


21st Century Woman

by showvyourself



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Angst, Anna is mostly frustrated at her, Elsa Has Ice Powers (Disney), Elsa is an adorable bean, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Incest, Sibling Incest, Smut, Smut and Angst, also Anna is an art student, and Anna swears A LOT, because Elsa is always confused about everything she sees, but Anna will fall in love with her, is this considered time travel?, it will mostly be comical, it's gonna be fun, minor Anna/Honeymaren, she can't help it, the mature warning is for that and for possibly future smut, there will be incest guilt in this one, there will be little angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27605729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showvyourself/pseuds/showvyourself
Summary: Anna Hughes doesn't believe in magic. Or time travel. Or whatever. She's just an art student, after all, who enjoys the infinite walls of her own imagination, not the strict ones of science. So what happens when one day, in the year 2018, while visiting the mighty Arendelle castle, she happens to accidentally summon Queen Elsa, who died in 1853?
Relationships: Anna/Elsa (Disney)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 96





	1. woke up from the dead

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I'm here with a new story, since Light in the Dark is about to cross the finish line. This fic will be a challenge for me because I'm most comfortable in writing angst and drama rather than fluff and humor. So this will be a nice change whatsoever! 
> 
> Either way, I hope you will enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it! 
> 
> Of course, comments are appreciated, especially in this case since it's a new journey and all. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading :)

The flight is running thirty minutes behind schedule. The annoying, monotonous voice makes the announcement just as Anna Hughes returns from a very crowded bathroom. Her first, immediate reaction is to let out a very loud, very frustrated groan. Then, just as her shoulders slump forward, she rolls her eyes so hard that they almost fall out of their sockets.

“Alright,” she mutters in defeat.

Anna gathers her large suitcase, dragging it behind her and making her way through the chaotic airport. The waiting area for Gate 15 is partially empty and Anna plops down on one random seat, her bones already weary despite having done nothing but wake up at an ungodly hour; 2 a.m. Anna is almost sure she fell asleep more than once during that one hour and a half drive from Cambridge to London Stansted Airport. Luckily for her —and for the other drivers as well —she did not cause one single accident and reached her destination safely but fairly exhausted.

Winter break is just around the corner and her parents had the brilliant idea to organize a trip to Tromsø, Norway, to pay her grandparents a visit. Iduna and James left two days ago, on the 15th of December, and now her whole family is solely waiting for her to get there in time for lunch. Which, at this point, as another delay of thirty minutes is added on top of the other one, seems almost impossible.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Anna whispers under her breath, heavily staring back at the threatening numbers glaring at her from the display across her. She huffs, sprawling her body across the seat and sighing bleakly. If her flight keeps on being put back, she _must_ warn her parents.

When she almost falls asleep with her head against the wall, she opts for a coffee. All things considered, she has a feeling that this day would only get worse.

And Anna is proved right as soon as she returns to the waiting area in front of her gate. Apparently, a family of five has sat across from her seat, and the three children, despite it being literally 5 a.m., chase each other around the large column, shrieking and snorting and, generally speaking, making loud noises. Anna suppresses with all her might the need to bang her forehead against the nearest wall. With an impressive self-restraint, she finds her original spot and distracts herself by playing Candy Crush on her phone.

It is only at 7 a.m., with two hours of delay, that Anna Hughes finally sets foot inside the plane. Once she’s settled at her designated seat, the flight attendants sweetly apologize for the lateness, but Anna can’t care less. She only wants to close her eyes and sleep away the five hours she has to endure now. Before she has to put her phone on airplane mode, she sends a quick and apologetic text to her parents, telling them that, if everything goes well, she should be at the airport at around 12 p.m.

Once the plane has taken off and they’re finally in the air, Anna relaxes back on her seat and closes her eyes, ready to let herself be engulfed by the fuzzy and comfortable world of dreams.

Alas, if only things were _that_ easy, especially for Anna Hughes.

Apparently, today is definitely _not_ her lucky day. Of course, back in London she saw the grey clouds in the sky but — _of course_ —she didn’t think much of it. Obviously.

When three hours have passed, the first signs of turbulence make their presence known. The plane shakes, slightly moves up and down, and it is enough to wake Anna from her fitful sleep. She blearily looks out the window, but only sees grey and clouds that promise nothing but rain. She sighs and just as the plane catches another bump in the wind, the aircraft jerks and she grips the edges of her seat. With a deep breath, Anna wonders, _dude, what have I done wrong to deserve such a shitty day?_

A light above her head lights up and Anna calmly fastens her seatbelt. The middle aged lady sitting beside her is gripping the armrests so tight that Anna fears she will break the fabric of the seat. She looks at her warily, face pale and eyes screwed completely shut. _Oh God,_ Anna thinks, _I hope she doesn’t throw up._

She isn’t scared of flying or heights, for that matter. Turbulences happen and there’s nothing she can do but hope that her pilot is competent enough to not crash the plane. She’s aware that other people, however, might not enjoy the feeling of emptiness beneath them as the aircraft shakes once again. Anna tries her hardest not to think about it too much and takes a deep breath. She’s too tired to ponder on the light fear and worry lurking beneath the surface of her heart.

Lucky for them, the turbulences don’t last long. However, their descent is not a pleasant one. And sure enough, when the airplane has landed and Anna steps out in the open air, she notices that it’s raining. Not heavily, but it’s that type of rain that frustrates her. It’s light and annoying and it makes the wind freezing cold.

Anna sighs once again and follows the directions towards the baggage reclaim area. She turns off the airplane mode and sees that her mother has responded to her earlier text, saying that her father would be there at the airport to get her. Despite a lingering frustration, she smiles and waits for her suitcase. She almost fears that her things had been, somehow, lost during the flight, or that someone else had retrieved them, but when, after ten long minutes, she finally catches sight of her luggage, she breathes a sigh of relief.

With a sluggish step and slightly slumped shoulders, she moves towards the exit. Indeed, she spots her father outside, waiting for her with a big smile and open arms. His familiar cologne scent envelops her as Anna hugs him. James embraces her tightly, as if he hadn’t seen her in years. Anna snorts at the thought.

“We thought you would never arrive,” her father teases, pulling away. He takes the luggage and Anna gratefully accepts the help, stretching her tired limbs. She follows him as they make their way towards the parking lot.

“Honestly? I thought that as well,” she jokes lightly.

Her father shakes with snickers and shakes his head at his playful daughter. She might be twenty one and a college student, but to his eyes, she would always be his little girl.

“How was the flight?” he asks.

“Eh, could have been better honestly,” she shrugs. “There was a bit of turbulence. And don’t get me started on the annoying kids who couldn’t stop talking,”

They reach her father’s car and she helps him load her suitcase. Once inside, Anna slumps against the passenger seat and buckles up.

“Man, I’m so tired,” she sighs.

“You can sleep for a little bit after lunch,” James proposes.

Anna gives him a noncommittal hum and easily dozes off. She sleeps for the entire drive back home. The sky is dark, decorated with stars, and when they reach her grandparents’ cozy house, Anna wakes up. The first things she sees are the familiar red walls of the façade, the white wooden door and the smoke coming out of the chimney. It all reminds her of her childhood, those days she spent outside playing with her family and drinking hot cocoa afterwards. It brings a bright smile on her face and melts away the frustration left from her unpleasant flight.

Once inside the building, she’s met with the warmth of the fire, lighting up the hearth of the living room, the smell of lutefisk and her grandfather’s buoyant laughter.

“Oh, Anna! Here comes my favorite _barnebarn!_ ”

Anna rolls her eyes and hugs her grandfather, Olav. The man is the tallest in the living room, his messy grey hair the only sign of his old age. Anna nuzzles her face in his chest, the woven wool of his dark green sweater prickling her nose. When she pulls away and looks up at him, his grey eyes are sparkling with affection.

“Shut up, I’m your only granddaughter here,” she replies back, playfully pouting and slightly pushing his shoulder. The whole family laughs and Anna moves on to greet her grandmother, Hilde. She breathes in deeply, her sweet perfume reminding her of contentment and familiarity. The old woman is as tall as she is and today she’s wearing her usual white and azure _bunad._ When they part, Hilde holds her hand and caresses her cheek with the love only a grandmother could convey to her granddaughter.

“How have you been, _min_ _kjære?_ ”

“College is tough but it’s damn worth it,” she smiles brightly. “But I’m really happy to be back here. I’m really happy we are able to spend a few days all together. I’ve missed you guys,”

“We missed you too, darling,” Olav ruffles her bangs and lovingly kisses the top of her head.

While Iduna and Hilde finish to prepare lunch, Anna goes upstairs to the guest bedroom. She usually stays here when they come visit but that melancholic feeling she always gets when she steps foot inside will never get old. She smiles wistfully, eyeing the chipped grey plaster nearby the right corner of the ceiling. She also spots her stuffed animals at the end of the single bed; she had left them there once she had realized she was no longer young enough to play with them. Some of her older clothes are still in the wooden wardrobe beside the desk and Anna grimaces slightly. _Thank God I am more stylish now_ , she thinks with a giggle.

She goes on to place her suitcase by the foot of her bed and opens it eagerly. She will stay here in Norway only for four days, but it was typical of her to pack too much, because _just in case_. Her friends back in England always make fun of her, but at least she’d be prepared for whatever her trips decide to throw at her. Is it too cold? No problem, she has enough sweaters to last through an entire winter. Is it too rainy? That won’t be an issue, because she’s provided with at least a dozen of raincoats. As paranoid and anxious as she is sometimes, one thing Anna always strives for is to be prepared for whatever inconvenience she may stumble upon. Let’s say she’s _not_ particularly fond of the unforeseen.

Anna organizes half of the things she has inside her suitcase before her mother calls her down for lunch.

What awaits her at the table are some of her favorite dishes; _pinnekj_ _øtt_ —dry-cured ribs of lamb — _ribbe_ —simple pork ribs, her grandmother’s specialty —boiled cod, ham roast and, of course, lutefisk.

Everyone begins to eat and after a few minutes of pleasant silence, conversation picks up once again.

“So, Anna,” Olav starts, his knife cutting in half his slice of ham roast. “Do you have someone _special_ in your life?”

“ _Kjære,_ we have talked about this,” Hilde scolds her husband playfully. The other two adults at the table only snicker. And of course, it is at Anna’s expenses.

“Oh, come on,” her grandfather scoffs with a smile. “So?”

Everyone turns to Anna expectantly and while there’s a hint of a amusement in her parents’ eyes, she can’t help but blush deeply. “Well…” she stammers. She _has_ someone special in her life, although the relationship is still fairly new and she doubts it will ever become something serious. “I do,” she replies plainly.

Olav gasps and Hilde widens her eyes in surprise. “I told you, Hilde,” the old man laughs. “Our dear Anna over here has all her grandfather’s charm. Nobody can resist her!”

“ _Bestefar_ ,” she complains, the color in her cheeks only getting darker.

“Who is it? Tell us all about him!”

Olav is excited, Hilde is holding her breath in anticipation, while her parents look at her with mild alarm. Of _course_ they assumed Anna had a boyfriend. “Oh, um,” she stammers, aware that her sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of. Still, not knowing how her grandparents will react to the news brings her a wave of anxiousness. _Oh, well, here it goes._

“ _Her_ name is Maren,” she drops the bomb. The dining room suddenly sounds too silent. “She isn’t an art student like me, but we go to the same college.”

Her grandfather’s mouth is hanging open and both Hilde and him have stopped eating. Anna doesn’t meet their eyes. Instead, she pours herself a glass of wine and chugs it in merely seconds. Then, Olav speaks.

“Oh,” the sound is so soft that she almost didn’t catch it. “This is…a surprise,”

Anna forces a smile on her face before _finally_ meeting their gazes. They show no real emotions inside of them; what she mostly see is bewilderment. As more time passes by and neither of them say anything, she feels the back of her throat burn. And not because of the alcohol she has just drank. _Ah, fuck. I shouldn’t have said_ —

“What does she study, then?”

Olav’s question surprises her. She splutters nonsense until she finally gets a hold of herself. “Um, biology.”

“That’s great,” Olav nods.

Then, there’s more silence. And then, Hilde is the one to break the ice with another question.

“How long have you two been together?”

Anna blinks once. Then twice. And then thrice. “Wait, wait,” she places her cutlery down. “You guys are okay with this?”

Olav glances at his wife before looking back at his granddaughter. A broad smile stretches his thin lips. “Of course, Anna. You’re our dear _barnebarn_ and we love you. We accept whatever life you decide to live, whoever you decide to love.”

She has heard this before —from her parents, when she had done her coming out a few years ago —but hearing these words again, from her _grandparents_ , gets her fairly emotional. It’s embarrassing and _oh God, get a grip, dude._ Anna clears her throat and sips from her glass of wine, looking up at the ceiling in order to get rid of her tears.

“Uh, thanks guys,” she says gratefully, once she’s reined in her emotions. “It really means a lot to me.”

Hilde smiles lovingly at her. “Of course.”

“So, tell us about this Maren. What is she like?”

And so she goes on and tells them the noteworthy information about her relationship with Maren. The rest of the lunch passes by pretty quickly and once Anna retires to her bedroom, in desperate need for a long nap, she feels weightless. She lies face down on the mattress and presses her stupid grin into her pillow, giggling like a little girl. It feels great, to tell the people she loves about her current girlfriend. Olav and Hilde had been so accepting of Maren, expressing how happy they were for Anna that she had found someone.

Anna falls into a light slumber with a smile on her face, her dreamless sleep peaceful and making her feel quite restful once she wakes up for dinner.

The first day of her stay is over in the blink of an eye, and she spends the second one with her grandparents. She had fairly missed them —the last time she had visited them was six months ago, for her birthday —and it felt nice to be in their company. She spends the majority of the nineteenth of December with Hilde, crocheting a magenta hat she would then give to her mother as a Christmas present. That night she sits by the fireplace, knitting wool mittens for herself while listening to her grandfather recount stories of his youth.

The twentieth of December is spent outside in the wild of Norway. They take a snowy reindeer sleigh ride, with Olav getting his hands on the reins. Luckily for them, that night the Northern Lights decide to streak across the dark sky, giving them the most beautiful show Anna had ever witnessed; the last time she had seen them had been at least five years ago. When they all return home, Anna goes to sleep with the happiest of hearts, falling asleep with a big smile on her face.

The last day of her visit —the twenty first of December —she wakes up with a good feeling. She just knows today is going to treat her _great_. Her flight is at 8.45 p.m. and she knows that today she won’t have the same bad luck as four days ago. She will return to Cambridge alone, without her parents, who had decided to stay with Hilde and Olav for two more days. But that is no concern for Anna, who releases a happy sigh and stretches her arms above her head. She quickly showers and changes into the outfit for today; a dark blue sweater that she had found rummaging through her old things — it smelled of honey and it reminded her of home — black trousers and boots of the same color. Once she’s done packing, she plaits her copper hair in twin braids and then goes downstairs with a spring to her step.

“Good morning, _kjære_ , how are you today?” Hilde greets her. As Anna passes by her, she plants a chaste kiss on her granddaughter’s cheek.

“I’m great! Although I’m a little sad I have to go already,”

“School is important, dear. Iduna told me about the project you have to work on,”

Anna blushes. “Oh, yeah, that. Creative projects are hard to get through,”

“I’m sure you’ll be great, sweetheart.”

The gentle smile Hilde sends her way warms her heart and she can’t help but give her a side hug. She sits down at the table and begins eating her breakfast — milk with corn flakes, her absolute favorite. Hilde really _does_ know her best.

She hears footsteps before Olav and her parents enter the dining room. Her grandfather ruffles her bangs playfully before plopping on the seat beside hers.

“Good morning, kid,”

“Morning,” she smiles at him.

Iduna and James sit across her and Hilde sits beside her husband. Then, excitedly, Anna gushes, “So, fishing today! I can’t wait!”

Olav’s grin fades away slightly. “Oh, actually about that, kid,” he says apologetically. “Change of plans. We’re going to this really cool museum.”

“Oh,” she slumps her shoulders. Anna must admit that she’s a little bit disappointed; she was _really_ looking forward to this day. “Um, what about it?”

“It is called the Arendelle Museum. It is a few hours away from here. Oh! —There’s also this fantastic castle, you’ll love it!”

She shrugs. “It better be fantastic, grandpa. Otherwise I’ll go fishing in their ponds — well, if they have any,”

“I looked up some pictures on the Internet the other day. It really is beautiful, Anna.”

Anna looks at her father and nods. She’s not really fond of historic museums but at least she’s going to spend the day with her entire family.

It takes them exactly two and a half hours to reach their destination. The museum lies in this hill, and from afar, sitting in the backseat of her father’s car, she can see the _fantastic_ castle, its imposing façade really impressing. Anna’s eyebrows rise in mild surprise.

_Well then._

Olav’s talking nonstop beside her and although she loves her grandfather deeply, she sometimes wishes he could tone his excitement down. The dark sky highlights the outlines of the mighty castle the more they move closer. And once their car is parked, they head for the eating area since it was already lunch time.

Anna sends her girlfriend a quick text, saying that she won’t be able to answer to any messages during the afternoon. Maren responds seconds later with a heart emoji, telling her not to worry and that they will call each other as soon as they’re both able. Anna smiles and turns her phone off.

The family of five then quickly walks towards the entrance, paying for a ticket and heading inside. The warm lights that light up the museum’s hallways convey a sense of comfort to Anna, as she observes the various portraits of different monarchs hung on every wall. Their footsteps make no sounds because of the dark red carpet beneath their boots and when a light cold breeze brushes against her cheeks, Anna shudders slightly and pushes her fists deeper into the pockets of her coat.

The guided tour through the castle and the museum lasts about two hours and Anna has to admit to herself that, although she’s a bit bored —yes, she’s still thinking about _fishing_ —this place really is splendid. When they step through the library, she can literally _smell_ the scent of paper and ink and ancient books. The portrait room is filled with different pictures, and one in particular catches her eye.

It is of Joan of Arc and she spends quite some time standing before its majestic frame.

“Are you enjoying yourself so far?”

Her mother’s voice is soft as it carries itself to Anna’s ears. “The pictures are beautiful,” she comments dryly.

Iduna snorts and bumps their shoulders together. They stand in silence for another minute, before the older woman states, “The guided tour is over. This was the last room but they’ve said that we can roam around here if we want. Here, take this pass.”

“We…can?” Anna asks unsure, taking the pass from her mother’s hands.

“Your grandfather knows the guy who owns the museum.”

“Oh,” Anna sighs softly. “I didn’t know that,”

Iduna laughs. “Well, enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about us,” she says. “Let’s…meet at the parking lot in about half an hour?”

“Yes, of course,” Anna smiles.

Then, her mother gives her another warm grin before leaving her alone. Or, well, she isn’t really alone; there are other tourists in the portrait room, of course.

Anna freely roams the castle hallways with slightly slumped shoulders. The security guys, once they see her pass, ask her no further questions.

_Man, this place is so big, what the hell._

She almost loses her way, and just when she thinks she hasn’t, she stumbles upon this darkened, unfamiliar and small chamber. _Yep, I think I’m lost._ The room is slightly colder than the others and there is a single window at the other end of the chamber. _I shouldn’t have descended those stairs, dammit._ Anna steps forward and—

“What the _fuck_ ,” she curses quietly. A _coffin_. A freaking coffin lies beneath the window. Anna covers her chest with a hand, eyeing a symbol — a… _snowflake?_ —that had been etched at the top of the wooden coffin. _This is creepy_ , she thinks, feeling her own heartbeat pick up the pace. With a grimace, she looks around herself. There’s not much in here, save for the super eerie wooden coffin beside her, a table beside it where a red candle is lit up and the minuscule window across her.

The cobblestone beneath her boots echoes her footsteps as she walks around the coffin, examining it with a grimace on her face. She doesn’t _really_ like horror movies, and spooky situations like these make her think that dying of fear is certainly possible.

Then, beneath the snowflake symbol, she catches sight of…is that _writing_? The italic words were written in Norwegian and, after blowing the dust away, she reads them aloud.

_Hvis du leser denne meldingen i vintersolverv_

_fra en dyp sovn dronningen kan vekke_

Anna blinks for a moment. In her mind, she tries to translate it in English. “ _Read this_ …—I don’t know what that means, dammit,” she mutters. “Anyway— _on the…winter solstice?_ —Oh, um…it’s _if you read this on the winter solstice…_ fuck this, the only words I can understand from this minuscule writing are _queen_ and… _slumber_ , maybe? Ugh —I give up,” she sighs. “It doesn’t mean shit anyway,”

Anna shrugs, walking towards the window and looking outside. From up here, she can spot the lights of Tromsø, brightening the distance with the life of the city. She thinks about the flight she has to take in a few hours and breathes deeply—

_Wait._

Did her breath just… _condense?_

And strangely enough, Anna feels a shudder trail down her spine. She wraps her arms around herself and quickly puts back on her wool mittens. The cold can be so _annoying_ sometimes.

Then, although alone, she mutters to herself, “Why is it _so_ cold all of a sudden—,”

“I sincerely apologize for that but—,”

“—What the fuck?!”

Anna literally _jumps_ around and she almost _screams_ when she sees another person standing beside the coffin. She was sure that _nobody_ had been there a few seconds ago.

“Who —who the _fuck_ are you?” Anna asks, her voice dripping with shock and bewilderment. The woman in front of her seems lost. And despite her stupor, Anna takes a few seconds to look at her. The woman has impossibly blonde hair —which seem to tend on the white and platinum spectrum, _anyway_ —tied in a neat and swung over the shoulder single braid. Anna notices that her hair literally _sparkles_ when the light of the candle reflects upon her figure. And her entire _outfit_ shimmers —an azure dress, with frost-dusted sheer and… _cape?_ —when the woman turns completely towards Anna.

And. Well. _Holy shit_.

“I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle,” the _supposed_ queen of Arendelle says calmly, prim hands folded across her groin. The woman stands a little bit taller, back straight and head held high. Elsa is…poised. Elegant, _regal_. She’s the definition of sophisticated grace, the literal opposite of Anna’s goofiness and clumsiness. Which, as Anna takes a step back, comes out in all its glory as she stumbles against the coffin. Elsa looks a bit unsure and apologetic as she says, “I apologize for the cold, I…” she trails off, looking around the room before slightly waving the fingers of her right hand. And, just like that, the added cold disappears and Anna’s teal eyes widen as she catches sight of a —is that… _magic?_

She’s too confused by that, and as she stares into space, she mutters, “I am pretty sure that the monarchy is held by a King right now.”

Elsa tilts her head to the side and stares at her with an adorable load of confusion written all over her face. “What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing,” Anna quickly shakes her head. Then, “Actually…where do _you_ come from?”

“From Arendelle,” Elsa replies quickly, without hesitation.

“Ugh, I know, you’ve said _that_ before, remember?” Anna sighs in frustration. “Like, from what century?”

Elsa opens her mouth various times before actually speaking. “Aren’t we…in the 19th century?”

Upon hearing the innocence of her question, Anna snorts and shakes her head, rubbing her tired eyes with both of her hands. “Oh man,”

“What’s wrong?”

Anna can’t help but laugh out loud, that type of laughter that bubbles up when you literally can’t tell whether what you’re going through is a joke or not. “Dude, you’ve got a big storm coming,” Anna giggles.

And Elsa just…stares at her. The only emotion that seems to perpetually cross the woman’s features ever since she… _appeared_ in this room is confusion. “A…storm?” she asks uncertainly.

“It’s… _whatever_ ,” Anna sighs and shakes her head. “Well, let’s just say that you’ve made a mistake and popped up in the wrong period of time. We’re in the 21st century.”

“The…21st century?”

“Yep,”

Elsa then seems to notice the, you know, _coffin_ beside them, and actually realizes that it is _her_ coffin. “There must be a mistake,” she says quietly.

“Nope,” Anna replies with the same feigned amusement.

“What year is it?”

“2018.”

“Oh,”

No matter the situation, Elsa seems unable to lose her cool. She’s still so composed, so polite and beautiful — _wait, wait._

“So—,”

She never finishes what she has to say because suddenly, they hear _actual_ footsteps and Anna _finally_ realizes that this situation she’s stumbled upon is an unusual one and if someone finds out that she’s in here—

“Oh, _fuck_! Quick, hide!”

Anna doesn’t think. Well, _most_ of the times she acts on impulse so it’s not really a surprise for her when she literally _pushes_ Elsa against the wall behind the door and presses herself against the other woman. But it _is_ a surprise for Elsa, whose eyes bulge and her breath hitches and she almost _squeaks_ but Anna quickly covers her mouth with a hand just as the door to the chamber opens stiffly.

“Who’s there?”

The voice belongs to a man of the security and Anna stares at his shadow and at the light coming from the hallway. She ignores the pressure of Elsa’s chest against her own and her smell of pine trees and snow and the coldness of her pale skin because the only thing she can think of is — _how the fuck do I get out of here with…with_ —

_“Hva er problemet?”_

_“Ingen fare. Jeg følte_ _at jeg hørte noen snakke.”_

Anna shuts her eyes and waits for the inevitable to happen. _Of course they heard us_. Anna looks up at Elsa and, surprisingly, she notices only now just how _blue_ her eyes truly are. They remind her of the arctic ocean and for a moment she just… _stares_. And goodness, she should just _get a grip_.

They both let out a sigh of relief when the door closes once again and the footsteps recede. Anna has still her hand over Elsa’s mouth and when the woman raises a single eyebrow, Anna lets go of her.

“Um…I reckon we are a _bit_ too close.”

Anna’s teal eyes widen in surprise and a fervent blush of embarrassment spreads over her cheeks. She takes several steps back, giving back to Elsa her personal space.

“Right…sorry,” she mumbles. “I have to get out of here,” she says, more to herself than to the other woman. She scratches the back of her neck, unable to think —or rather, thinking _way_ too quickly —and tries to come up with a solution. When she looks back up at Elsa, she sees a worried flicker inside her cerulean eyes. “Ah, _shit_ , of course. I can’t just leave you here. _We_ have to get out of here but —I don’t know how,”

She groans exasperatedly and rubs both of her hands against her face.

“Perhaps…I can help you with that?”

And then Anna realizes. “Oh. _Oh!_ Of course you can help me. It’s not like I’ve lived in this place or anything…”

Anna nervously chuckles to herself but Elsa keeps staring at her with mild confusion. It is almost infuriating how clueless Elsa can be. “Ah, God help me,” she mutters to herself as she looks around herself. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Elsa still looks at her and does nothing but be _regal_ and _poised_. When Anna looks back at her just as quietly, the other woman clears her throat and shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

Anna stares dumbly at her before realization strikes her. “Oh! Shit, sorry. Right. Um, I’m Anna. Anna Hughes.”

“Great,” Elsa nods once. “Nice to meet you,”

“Nice to meet you too…I guess?”

For the first time since she’s appeared here, Elsa’s lips twitch upwards with the hint of an amused smile. _This woman is a mystery._

“Let’s go,” Elsa says, reaching out to grab the doorknob.

“Hey, wait, wait. You can’t just go outside dressed like… _that_.”

Elsa’s eyebrows furrow with —yes, you’ve guessed it — _confusion_. Yet again. “What’s so wrong with this?” she asks innocently, grabbing the side of her shimmering cape.

“Listen…” Anna trails off. Then, she takes off her coat and beckons the other woman to wear it. From her backpack, she takes out a pair of gloves and the crocheted hat she wanted to give her mother. _Ah, well. Guess I’ll just have to find another present for her._ As a last touch, she places —as gently as she could, of course — sunglasses on the bridge of Elsa’s nose. Now…she looks less like someone who just went to a gala and more like a normal tourist. Although, the cape…

“Now we can go!” Anna chirped.

She turns around and opens the door slowly. She peeks out her head and sees that the hallway is clear. Without thinking too much about it, she grabs Elsa’s gloved hand and leads her outside of… _whatever_ that chamber was. As they sneak out without no one seeing them, Anna feels like one of those spies that she usually sees in action movies. And she almost laughs at the irony of her own brain, as it makes fun of her by playing the Pink Panther theme inside of her head.

Elsa whispers various directions and they almost make it out of the castle unscathed and unseen, but then, just as they were about to step outside—

“Excuse me, ma’am, what are you doing out there? The last guided tour ended twenty minutes ago,”

Anna bites her tongue and curses mentally. She turns around slowly, still holding onto Elsa’s hand. She tries to ignore the way the security woman glances more than once at the woman standing beside her. And Anna _knows_ that they look ridiculous. _Especially_ Elsa. With that _dumb_ grey coat over that elegant and _perfect_ azure sparkling dress and those stupid, big sunglasses.

“Sorry, we, um…we were actually looking for the bathroom but got lost. So it took us a while to find our way back. Also, I have this pass,” Anna smiles sweetly and hopes that her fake cordiality gets through the impassive woman, who just keeps glancing unabashedly at Elsa.

“Hm,” she murmurs. “And who’s this woman with you?”

Anna actually begins to _sweat_ , even though the temperature is, like, -5.4 Celsius degrees outside. Anna glances at Elsa and swallows thickly. “This is…uh…” she clears her throat and looks back at the security woman, who raises her eyebrows expectantly. “This is my _cousin_. She’s…actually blind so —that’s why she’s, erm, wearing sunglasses.”

“Oh, really?” there’s sarcasm in her voice and Anna nods furiously, although she feels like she’s about to faint. She holds an intense staring contest with the security woman before the latter sighs and lets them go.

When they’re finally outside and they reach the parking lot, Anna has an _epiphany_.

Her family.

Her flight.

“Oh, _fuck_.”

Elsa turns towards her. Their hands are still interlocked and Anna shivers slightly from the cold. “What’s wrong?”

“I, uh—,” Anna takes out her phone and from the corner of her eye, she sees Elsa’s eyes bulge. She sends a quick text to her parents, making up an excuse and telling them that she would take the train instead of waiting for them. She _can’t_ let them find out about Elsa. How is she supposed to explain to them that she had…what, _summoned_ a queen coming from the 19th century? Woke up a _woman_ from the _dead?_

Either way, it’s just a ten minute walk from the castle to the train station (Anna checked with Google Maps) and so she tells Elsa of their plan. She has no choice but to take her with her back to Cambridge. She will need to come up with something —how will she even _hide_ another person inside her house, who she happens to _share_ with her parents?

_I have the flight back to England to think about this, anyway_.

“We’re going to England?”

“Yep,” Anna quickly replies. She quickens her pace, walking down the sidewalk with Elsa trailing behind her. Only when she hears her footsteps and looks down at her feet, does she realize that — _of course she’s wearing heels_.

“With…a train?”

_Oh, right._ “Um…no. We’re taking a train to get to my grandparents’ house, so I can take my suitcase. And then, we’re taking a train to get to…the airport. An airplane will get us to England.”

The inevitable question arrives shortly after. “What’s an airport?”

Anna chuckles, rubbing her index finger beneath her nose. She’s still a bit overwhelmed by everything that she didn’t realize that she would literally have to explain _everything_ to Elsa. “It’s…a place similar to the train station. Just…it has _airplanes_ instead of trains. They’re really nothing special, they’re like…big birds but instead of having feathers they’re made of steel.”

Elsa’s eyes get even wider and she just looks so… _comical_. With those glasses still perched on her nose, and the coat, and the stupid pink gloves.

Anna sighs and briefly clenches her jaw out of frustration. “Listen,” she begins, halting and turning towards the other woman. “I don’t know how all of this happened but it seems that you’re… _stuck_ here in this century and…I don’t know what it feels like, but it must be scary because everything’s new and modern and unfamiliar. But…we —I will _help_ you, okay? I’ll be your official guide and give you a guided tour of the 21st century, or whatever.”

“You will?” Elsa asks, a bit of uncertainty lingering in her guarded blue eyes.

“Yeah,” Anna replies, taking a deep breath and trying to appear as much reliable and trustworthy as possible, despite her still reeling mind.

“Okay,” Elsa concedes after a moment of silence.

Anna lets out a breathe of relief. “Splendid,” she smiles nervously. She turns around and puffs up her chest; ready to head to their next stop, the train station.

“Now we just have to go back to England.”


	2. barbie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna finds a way to get her and Elsa back to England without getting into trouble. On the way home, they also stop at a McDonald's, and Elsa finally tries "modern" food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm really sorry for being so late, but a new chapter is finally here! Now that Light In The Dark is over (go read the epilogue if you've missed the ending ;) ) I can focus more on this one. 
> 
> I'm so excited for what's to come!! Mostly, the first chapters will be humor mixed with fluff, but you know me, the more serious part of the story will come with time. 
> 
> And maybe some of you have noticed that I've edited the tags, added the icest one, and let's say that you guys have got a big storm coming ;)
> 
> Hope you like this new update, and please, leave a comment with your opinion and/or kudos. I know I say this all the time but they literally make me the happiest person ever :)
> 
> Enjoy!

If the train station was packed, the airport looks like a _circus._

And this makes Anna nervous, because while taking a train was not a problem for her new companion, taking an airplane certainly is. And so copious curses begin to fall from her mouth, the first landing right at the entrance of the airport.

“ _Fuck_ ,”

Elsa is baffled, _because_ —after all, this is her first time seeing an airport. This is her first time _flying_. But still, she manages to turn around and, with the most ingenuous voice, ask, “What’s wrong?”

Anna grimaces and smacks her palm against her forehead. “Oh, _fuck_ ,” she repeats, as if she has not heard the woman beside her. When she faces Elsa, the latter stares at her with a thousand questions inside her cerulean eyes. Fortunately for Anna, they are left unsaid. She is afraid she might combust if Elsa graces her with yet another burst of her naivety.

“Okay,” she takes a deep breath. “Here’s the thing, Barbie. So—,”

“My name’s Elsa, _not_ —,”

Anna groans in an exasperated and frustrated fashion. The unladylike sound makes Elsa shut up and, consequently, pout. “That’s just — a nickname, okay?”

“ _Oh_. Alright.”

“So,” Anna begins again. Her eyes glance around and sees that there are too many people. She cannot possibly have _this_ conversation out here. They need some resemblance of privacy. “Wait, just — follow me,” she says, grabbing Elsa’s hand and leading her to the nearest bathroom. Entering the ladies room, Anna ignores the few weird stares sent their way — she should have made Elsa change out of that stupid _dress_ — and pushes the both of them inside a stall, locking the door behind them.

The room inside is minimal and she hopes Elsa does not notice the blush covering her freckled cheeks. “Okay. So, here’s the thing. We need to take an airplane in order to go back to England. But—there’s a problem. They don’t let you board the plane unless you have your passport with you. And you— _God_ , how do we get out of this mess.”

“A passport, you say?” Elsa pensively stares at the doorknob. “Perhaps I can solve this problem.”

“How can you—,”

Anna’s question is interrupted by the magical glow lighting up Elsa’s hands. She gasps so hard that Elsa momentarily glances at her. Somehow, among everything, she forgot the little, weird display of magic back at the Arendelle castle. Not only has she summoned a Queen of the nineteenth century, but also a Queen with _magic_ ! And…is that _ice_ magic?

“Okay, what the actual _fuck_ ,” Anna mumbles, unable to tear her gaze away from the sparkling object — is that a fake _ice_ passport?! — between Elsa’s hands.

“Oh,” Elsa says softly. Her pale cheeks slightly redden, and Anna looks up at her, wide eyed. “I forgot to tell you.”

“Wait,” Anna touches the ice. “Let me get this straight. You have…ice _powers?_ ”

Elsa ducks her head and bites her bottom lip. “Yes, I have.”

Anna breathes out a sigh. “This can’t get any weirder,” she mumbles. “Nobody can know. And—is this your passport?”

“Is this not good?”

“For fuck’s sake—I mean, I’ll show you a _real_ passport,” Anna gets her own identification from her backpack and shows it to the other woman. “See? It’s made of paper and you have to sign it and everything. If you don’t have something like this they won’t let you board the plane.”

“Oh,” Elsa replies dumbly. Then, she looks up at Anna and stares at her.

“Shit,” Anna whispers. “Okay. Let me think,”

She knows that there is not a solution. It is impossible to not get caught. And even though they try to get on the plane and let Elsa show that… _ice_ passport, security would never fall for that. It is too obvious that it is made of ice. But…if Elsa cannot come with her, that means that she has to stay here. She would be stuck here, _alone_ , with no knowledge of the modern world. And Anna may be selfish sometimes, and she does not even know who this woman is, but she cannot just leave her behind. She promised her, back at the castle, that she would _help_ her. So she _must_ help her.

An idea strikes her suddenly.

But just as it comes to her mind, she dreads it painfully.

“I could…have an idea,”

“Really?” Elsa’s face lights up adorably.

“Yeah,” Anna grimaces. “I had a boyfriend, a long time ago. It was just a summer fling, nothing too special. But I remember him telling me that he worked at the airport. So maybe we can find him and…you know, convince him to let you board the plane even though you have no passport? Maybe…you can show him the ice passport you made, and I will—I will come up with an excuse.”

“Okay,” Elsa replies. She does not sound too convinced, but there is no other plan to try. They might as well go all out with this one, even though it is not one of the best.

And so, they exit the bathroom, and after almost an hour, they finally find Anna’s ex-boyfriend. He spots her just as she spots him, and Anna can already feel regret burn at the bottom of her stomach. It’s obvious from his lovesick look in his face that he’s still somehow smitten with her.

“Anna!” the man exclaims when they are near enough. He tells something to his colleague before walking towards them. “It’s been a while since the last time we’ve seen each other! How have you been?”

“Hi, um, Hans,” Anna chuckles nervously. “I’m good. It’s all good. Um, listen. Can I ask you a _really_ big favor?”

Hans, the guy with reddish hair and sideburns, stares blankly at her before finally seeming to spot the taller woman beside Anna. “Oh, um. Sure. What’s wrong?”

“Um, okay. This is…” Anna turns to look at Elsa, who is still sporting her sunglasses. She decides to tell the same lie she has told the security woman back at the castle. “…my _cousin_ . She’s blind and…we have to take the next flight for London Stansted but…during our stay in Norway, her passport kind of…um, _froze_ ,” she stammers. She hopes Hans can’t see right through her lies. “Um, Elsa, can you give me your passport, please?” she asks, her voice slightly high pitched. Elsa nods and hands her the ice passport without saying anything. “Look, here’s the thing. We really need to get to London. I…have a big project for school and I can’t prolong my stay here. But if we tell this story to your other colleagues, they might not let us board the plane. So I was hoping…maybe _you_ could help us?”

By the time she’s finished, Hans is looking at her with an unreadable expression. Elsa is silent by her side and she’s grateful for it. He glances at the ice passport but doesn’t utter a word. His lips form a thin line, a mixture of slight disappointment and confusion marring his face.

“Do you have your passport and ticket?” he asks with a neutral voice.

“Yep!” Anna exclaims quickly, showing him their digital tickets she has bought earlier for the both of them.

Hans briefly glances at them before waving his hand, silently urging them to follow. Anna drags her suitcases with her and ignores Elsa’s quizzical looks.

“Follow me,” he says, his voice sounding meekly annoyed.

“You’ll help us?” Anna asks with the biggest smile on her face.

Hans rolls his eyes and momentarily looks at her. “Yeah,” he replies begrudgingly.

Anna lets out a laugh of pure relief and pats him in the back. “Oh my God, thank _you_! You’re the best, Hans!”

“Oh, really?” he asks sarcastically.

Anna only giggles in response. She feels a huge weight lift off from her chest and she feels so much relief that when they finally reach the airplane, and Hans proceeds to explain the situation to one of the hostesses, she doesn’t even notice Elsa’s reluctance to sit on the seat beside the window.

Anna thanks Hans again and he leaves with a shrug, a tired smile tugging at his lips. They’re finally settled and she excitedly bounces on her seat. _We made it, we made it!_ , she thinks happily. There’s a big grin on her face, but that slowly vanishes once she notices Elsa’s distress.

“Hey, you okay, Barbie?”

Elsa looks up at her and takes off her sunglasses with trembling hands. “I—I really don’t know what to expect.”

Anna stares at her dumbly until she _finally_ understands. “Oh! Right,” she smiles nervously. “It’s just—it’s not that bad, I promise. The take off and the landing might be a little bit troubling, but—,” at this she hesitates. But Elsa’s looking at her with blue eyes full of restrained anxiety that she can’t help but think, _ah, fuck it._ “—you can hold my hand if you’re scared. Squeeze it as hard as you want, I don’t—mind,”

The engine of the airplane comes alive and Elsa startles, gripping both her offered hand and the armrest so tightly that her knuckles turn white.

The woman beside Elsa — she’s sitting in the middle seat, Anna didn’t want her to take the one closest to the window — eyes her warily. Anna notices the weird stare and frowns.

“Please tell me you won’t throw up,” her English accent is thick and she sounds painfully annoyed. _What a pain in the ass,_ Anna thinks while rolling her eyes.

“She won’t,” she replies sweetly, fake sarcasm dripping from her voice. The irritating woman looks at her with a grimace before exhaling deeply. She looks away after that, and Anna focuses back on her new...friend? “You won’t, right?”

“How can I possibly know? I can’t foresee the future,” Elsa states matter of fact through gritted teeth.

Anna snorts and quirks an eyebrow up. “Oh, so you have a sense of humor, uh?”

Elsa visibly blushes and doesn’t meet her gaze. Their hands are still tightly linked.

“Hm,” Anna shrugs nonchalantly. “I like it. You should use it more often.”

Elsa does not utter a word after that, and neither does Anna. She realizes, during their flight, that apparently, the Queen is the _introvert_ and _silent_ type. She only speaks when she needs to. Or maybe, she just needs to warm up to Anna. Either way, she will have time to figure her out, since they, _well_ , will be stuck together for quite a while.

The flight goes as well as it can go — to the woman’s delight, Elsa didn’t throw up, on the contrary, she _fell asleep_ — and when they land, London is coated with a blanket of snow.

It is way past dinner time when they finally exit the airport — they had stopped at the bathroom so Elsa could change out of her clothes and put some of Anna’s — and slowly make their way to the parking lot.

“Look, your friends!” Anna exclaims teasingly.

Elsa looks around and, upon seeing no one, asks innocently, “My...friends?”

Anna’s enthusiastic grin dissipates when she notices that, as usual, Elsa is confused by her joke. “The _snowflakes_ , Barbie.”

“Why are they my friends?”

“Because...you know? Your powers and everything,”

Elsa pouts. “Oh,” she blushes. “I guess they are my friends, then.”

“Girl, it’s a joke, nothing serious,” Anna laughs awkwardly. She has never met someone quite like Elsa. She is... _peculiar_. Anna doesn’t know if in a good or bad way yet. “Are you cold?”

“Oh,” Elsa actually _giggles_ , lo and behold, and Anna feels a strange wave of nostalgia swarming her heart. She looks away before she can dive deeper into the weird feeling. “The cold never really bothered me, actually,”

“Right,” Anna chuckles, realization striking her just as they arrive to her car.

She goes to open the door, but stops when she sees Elsa has stopped suddenly a few feet away.

“You...okay?”

Elsa stares on, petrified. “What is... _that_?”

Anna follows her gaze and she’s the one who’s confused, until—

 _Oh_.

“You mean…” Anna touches the hood of her Mercedes C class — it’s actually her father’s, she still doesn’t have one of her own — and realizes that Elsa has never seen a car. “Oh,” she laughs nervously. “Um...Elsa, meet Mercedes. And, I guess...Mercedes meet Elsa.”

“That has a name?” Elsa asks, her index finger delicately pointed at the car.

“ _That_ is...a car. And, it’s not actually its name, it’s...the brand?” Anna raises her shoulders, not knowing how to explain this because she’s _hungry_ and _tired_ and she just wants her bed right now. “Listen, it just...its purpose is to take us home and I’ll drive. I’ll explain all of that to you tomorrow, alright?”

Elsa nods once and primly gets in the passenger seat. Once they’re both inside, Anna warms up the motor and shows Elsa how to buckle her seat belt. Then she proceeds to get out of the parking lot. She feels Elsa’s stupefied stare on her, and it’s quite unsettling, but also adorable, because when Anna steals a glance her way, she sees the same curious face that children often wear when discovering the world.

“Are you hungry?”

As if on cue, her own stomach grumbles and she giggles when she sees Elsa’s eyes widen at the unladylike sound. The highway is mostly deserted, but Anna intently keeps her eyes on the road.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Elsa replies politely.

Anna nods and hums so as to acknowledge her response, but turns left either way, to the food court. She parks the car and then turns to Elsa, who faces her immediately. Her hands are neatly folded on her lap.

“I know you’ve just got here, but let me introduce you to some of the worst junk food ever,” Anna smirks. She unbuckles her seat belt and then Elsa’s.

It has now stopped snowing — fortunately — but it is still too cold for her. And it almost angers her, to feel like her own bottom is freezing, and then notice that Elsa isn’t even shivering. The cold truly doesn’t care about her, after all.

Once they’re inside the restaurant, Anna takes a deep breath in. “Elsa, welcome to McDonald’s. Where everything tastes like plastic but it is cheap and actually affordable.”

Elsa seems a little bit overwhelmed by everything. The blinding lights, the _fryer,_ the microphone in which the cashier is talking into, those enormous tablets — _and they’re touchscreen!_ — the young adolescents sitting at the table near the window. Elsa eyes them all curiously, stares at the black drawing that are over the oldest boy’s neck. She means well, she’s just inquisitive about this new world she has woke up in, but those kids are beginning to snicker, probably making fun of her in the meantime, and are eyeing her in ways kids shouldn’t.

Anna grimaces and gently grabs Elsa’s arm, dragging her towards the totems. While Elsa is distracted with getting to understand how the screen works, Anna turns around and glares at the group of boys. Their snickers die down and Anna can breathe again.

“Shitheads,” Anna mutters. She proceeds to take her order.

“You touch it and it obeys whatever you tell it to do?” Elsa asks quietly.

“Yeah, Barbie. This is how touchscreens work. You touch on the food that you want and confirm your order. Those guys over there—,” Anna points at the kitchen hidden behind the counter. “—they get my order and prepare it in record time,” Elsa’s lips are slightly parted, probably baffled at all of this. “This is technology, girl. Wait until we arrive home,” Anna giggles, already picturing her Oscar winning surprise face.

Within minutes, Anna has paid and has found a table where they can sit and be at peace. She plops down on the seat across Elsa with a sigh, an exaggerated one if she may be honest with herself, and takes off her beanie. Her limbs are sore, the smell of food is making her even more hungry and she’s already starting to feel the effects of jet-lag. Elsa, on the other hand, sits with her back straight and hands folded primly on top of the table. She looks fine, and Anna almost feels bad when, for the first time since meeting the woman, she thinks that she looks _ethereal_. The gray sweater she’s wearing is short on her wrists — obviously because Elsa is slightly taller than Anna. That means that they should probably go shopping soon, before Christmas, which is...in four days.

“Are you tired?” Anna asks after a while.

Elsa looks at her with a neutral gaze before pouting lightly. “No, I’m not,” she replies quietly. Why does everything that comes out of her mouth have to sound so regal and polite? _Oh, probably because she’s a fucking Queen_ , Anna ponders.

Anna nods and sighs again. “Fuck, I’m exhausted,” she rubs her reddened eyes and slumps like a petulant child. She can’t wait until they arrive back home, to the best best friend she’s ever had — the freaking _bed_. “How are you not exhausted?”

Elsa shrugs. “I...don’t know,”

Anna chuckles. “Of course, you’ve slept for an entire century.”

“I didn’t exactly sleep—,”

“I—,” Anna pauses, raising a hand and smiling nervously. “I really don’t want to know how you literally woke up from the _dead_ ,” her voice lowers to a whisper. “At least not now. Maybe soon, I don’t know. I still have to figure out how to handle all of this,”

While Elsa nods, the waitress arrives with her food.

“Thank you,” Anna says with kindness. Once they’re alone again, Anna sighs in both relief and pleasure as the smell of chicken nuggets and hamburgers fills her nostrils. “I’ve missed you, my dear babies,”

“People talk to the food now?” Elsa’s face has a hint of a smile and Anna stares at her for a moment before breaking into a giggle.

“Your sense of humor is improving. Keep working on it,” Anna smiles.

Elsa gifts her with a laugh and she shakes her head when she notices Elsa shyly covering her smile with her hand.

“Here, try one of these,” Anna hands her a fry. “It’s called chip,”

“But the menu said that—,”

“French fry, I know. But I’m English, and here we call them chips.”

“Oh,”

Elsa hesitantly takes the offered food and takes it to her mouth. She chews with her mouth closed, almost making no sound. Her blue eyes light up. “It’s...strangely good. I’ve never tried food like this,”

“Guess you’re lucky you’ve stumbled here then, uh?” Anna smiles, and it gets wider when she notices Elsa reaching out to take another French fry. “You wanna try the chicken nuggets?”

“What is that?”

“It’s basically chicken but fried. It’s great,” Anna moves the food over the middle of the table, so she and Elsa can share. “Come on, don’t be shy, Barbie.”

Elsa holds back a smile and takes one chicken nugget. “Why do you always call me Barbie?” she asks curiously. “What’s a Barbie?”

“Oh, man,” Anna covers her forehead and sighs. Her body briefly shakes with chuckles. “Barbie is a type of doll. I call you that way because you’re basically the same. Blond, blue eyes, and skinny.”

Elsa finishes chewing and once she’s swallowed, she asks, “Do you happen to have one with you?”

Anna shakes her head. “No, but I can show you a photo from the Internet.”

“The...Internet?”

Anna throws her head back and laughs again. “You ask too many questions. I’ll explain all to you with time, don’t be impatient, alright?”

“Okay…”

Anna shakes her head once again and takes out her iPhone. She finds a picture of the doll and turns the device over, so that Elsa can see it.

“Oh,” she blushes furiously. “I...understand better now.”

“Great,” Anna giggles. “Now come on, let’s finish eating so that we can go home,”

It takes them almost fifteen minutes to finish everything that Anna has ordered. Elsa tried a bit of everything, just to get used to the modern food of the world. It is past midnight when they exit the McDonald’s, and once they’re back inside the car, Anna has to hold back a smile when she sees Elsa buckle her seat belt on her own. _She learns fast_ , she observes. It makes her feel relieved, because maybe Elsa can get used to everything sooner rather than later.

She drives back home and it’s silent inside the car save for the engine’s hum and the low sound of music coming from the radio. The food has awakened her, so her eyes don’t really droop now, but still, it’s been a really long day and she’s tired nevertheless.

“Can I tell you something?” Elsa says quietly. She has a pensive frown on her face and Anna furrows her brows briefly.

“Sure,” she replies absentmindedly.

Elsa stares out the window as she speaks. “I don’t really remember what happened to me,” she confesses. “Every time I try to think about my... _life_ , this blank void fills my mind. And I dearly wish to tell you about my past, even though we’ve just met, but I...I can’t.”

Anna glances at her and sees slight frustration cross her features. “You don’t remember anything? Like—nothing at all?” she asks, surprised.

“It almost feels like someone has stolen my memories, or something. I remember my name, my status, but...that’s it.”

“Oh,” Anna sighs. “Well, maybe they will come back someday,” she looks at Elsa for longer than a second and chuckles nervously. “I’ll wait,”

Elsa turns to her with blue eyes slightly widened with surprise and genuine relief. “You will?”

“Yeah,” Anna shrugs. “You’re a freaking miracle, girl. Who the hell wakes up from the dead? I’m gonna keep you, if you don’t mind.”

Anna feels Elsa’s eyes on her and an involuntary blush covers her cheeks. “Thank you,” Elsa whispers softly.

Anna sends a quick, awkward smile her way and then focuses on the road.

The rest of the drive is silent after Elsa’s strange confession. They arrive home when it’s almost two in the morning, and Elsa is kind enough to help her with the suitcase. The apartment where she lives with her parents is fairly modest — a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room, and two bedrooms, which are upstairs.

“The tour of the house has to wait for tomorrow, Barbie. We better get to bed and sleep, it’s really late,” Anna says, voice low and slurred because of her exhaustion. Elsa nods politely and helps her carry the luggage upstairs.

However, as soon as they get inside the bedroom and Anna turns on the lights, she realizes that — there’s only one bed. A large one, but still only _one_ bed.

“We should think about the sleeping arrangements,” Anna chuckles nervously. Elsa says nothing, only waiting for her to tell her what to do. “Maybe I can sleep on the couch—,”

“No way,” Elsa objects firmly. “This is your home. _I_ should sleep on the couch,”

“No, let’s just—,” Anna looks around the bedroom. She rubs the back of her neck in frustration. “—let’s just sleep in the same bed. It’s large anyway,”

She looks at Elsa and smiles awkwardly.

“You don’t mind?” Elsa asks, voice hesitant.

“Nah,” Anna shrugs. _My girlfriend will probably get mad, but it’s not like I’m gonna sleep with a freaking Queen_ . “Come on, I’ll give you some jammies _._ ”

Once they’re ready and beneath the blankets, Anna is painfully aware of the warm body beside hers. She feels the dip of the bed because of Elsa’s weight, and she grips the hem of the sheets so tightly that she hopes Elsa doesn’t notice.

Anna looks to her left and Elsa looks back at her. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Yes,” Anna offers her a smile, even though it’s half forced and mostly nervous. “Goodnight,” she says after a while, voice slightly high pitched.

“Goodnight,”

She watches Elsa turn on her side, her back facing Anna. For a few minutes, she stares at the back of her head, noticing the glow of her platinum blonde hair in the darkness of the bedroom. She hears her breathing, and Anna tries not to think too much about _how_ exactly a Queen of the nineteenth century is sleeping beside her.

With a sigh, Anna turns on her side and soon, sleep greets her with welcoming, warm arms.


	3. who's james bond?

Anna wakes up with the smell of cornflakes in the air and a crunching sound.

She slowly opens her eyes, surroundings bleary for a moment before they become clearer the more she rubs her hands against her face. She looks side to side, and when she sees that the spot beside her is empty, she panics. Anna sits up with a jolt, before realizing that the person she is looking for is sitting right in front of her, eating cornflakes and _weirdly_ staring at her with the most curious gaze she’s ever seen.

“What the fuck, why are you staring at me?” she whines, placing a hand over her chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack, Barbie,”

“I was waiting for you to wake up. I got hungry, and...I didn’t know how most of the things in your kitchen work, so I opened a cabinet and found—,” Elsa raises the box of cornflakes. “—this. They taste good,”

Anna sighs and swings her legs over the bed, standing up. She sways a little, still a little be sleepy. “Hm,” she hums. “What time is it?”

“I think it’s almost one in the afternoon,”

Anna finds her phone and it is, indeed, one in the afternoon. Her stomach grumbles but first, her bladder needs to be emptied. “How long have you been awake?” she asks.

As she leaves the room, Elsa follows her. “About an hour.”

“And you’ve been staring at me for the whole time?” Anna asks incredulous.

“No, no…” Elsa frowns. “That’s...rude,” she pauses. “Um, I looked around your house and I think that you need to explain to me a lot of things of your world.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Anna mumbles. When they reach the bathroom, and Elsa is still behind her, munching on those cornflakes and still wearing her jammies, Anna turns around and looks at her with raised eyebrows. “Um...do you also want to watch me while I pee or was watching me sleep enough for today?” she asks dryly.

Elsa blushes furiously. “No, no,” she shakes her head and takes a step back. “I—,”

“You can go back to my bedroom. Open my closet and see if there’s something that you like.”

Anna closes the bathroom door and once she’s sat on the bowl, she listens to Elsa’s retreating footsteps. When she checks her iPhone, she sees a few messages from her girlfriend and one from her parents, asking her how the flight was and if she were okay. Anna sighs and rubs her eyes again, _definitely_ not ready for today.

She tells Maren that they will meet tonight, and tells her parents that everything went great and that she was feeling better.

Once she’s out of the bathroom, she goes back to the bedroom and shrieks.

“OH! Shit, sorry!”

Anna covers her eyes and hears Elsa’s frightened scream. “It’s okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Anna peeks from between her fingers and sees Elsa scramble to get the sweater over her bare upper body. She has only seen her back, _nothing_ too scandalous, but _still_.

“Um…” she stutters. “Do you—need a bra?”

“...bra?”

Anna furrows her brows behind her concealing hand. “You—did you women of the nineteenth century go around with—with your _boobs_ free?” she asks incredulous.

Elsa actually _squeaks_. “No! We—we had corsets, and, and…”

“Listen,” Anna breathes. “A bra is just—how can I put this—it’s a boob holder? Kind of,”

“A... _boob_ holder?”

“Ugh!” Anna groans. “Are you freaking covered?”

“Yes! Yes, I am!”

Anna comes inside the bedroom and stands in front of a bewildered and — let’s be honest — traumatized Elsa. “This—,” Anna lifts her pajama shirt and shows Elsa her own bra. “—is a bra. Okay?”

She feels strangely vulnerable and embarrassed, because Elsa _stares_ at her chest, blatantly, for a few seconds, before looking away with a grimace. “Okay,” she whispers.

“I—I don’t know if we have the same size, but I can lend you one of mine,” Anna says, immediately going to her closet to pick one bra for Elsa.

She hands it to the other woman and Elsa takes it with the most awkward look on her face. “How—,” Elsa swallows, and Anna knows her question before she can voice it. “How do I put this on?”

“Turn around,” Anna stands behind her. “Take off your sweater,” she blushes at the words. “And—I’m not gonna look, I swear. I’m happily committed in a relationship.”

“Okay,” Elsa squeaks.

Standing so close to Elsa, whose back is now bare, makes her feel all sorts of weird and embarrassed. _I couldn’t bring back a woman from the future, nah?_

She shows her how to put a bra on, and once it’s done, Elsa turns around and Anna looks at her chest. “You’re—bigger than me,” she stutters. “But that’s okay, because—we’re going shopping today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Anna nods, exhaling deeply. “We’re gonna eat some lunch and then go shopping. We need to give you some clothes before my parents come back.”

Elsa nods and puts her sweater back on. Both of their cheeks are incredibly red — Elsa’s are more noticeable because of the pale color of her skin — but Anna quickly gets over it.

It’s going to be a really long, _long_ day.

* * *

Shopping with Elsa feels like going around with a kid. She asks _too_ many questions and wherever they go, her blue, curious eyes roam all over the place, frequently stopping so as to analyze better whatever her gaze has landed upon.

A Cardi B song, _I Like It_ , begins playing on the radio just as they enter an H&M store. Anna doesn’t know what Elsa likes best, but she guesses that she fancies elegant clothes, the type that reserved and shy nerd girls would wear. Anna links their arms together and basically drags Elsa inside, the latter halting momentarily to stare at the multitude and variety of clothes.

“Okay, so,” Anna begins, moving closer to Elsa so she could whisper the words. “We’re not in the nineteenth century anymore, and as you see women are not obliged to wear only restricting corsets and skirts or whatever you guys wore at the time,” she paused. “We are free to wear whatever we want — well, _almost,_ but — you can pick whatever you want now. No one will judge you. Well, no one except me, I’ll give you my opinion,” she chuckles awkwardly.

Elsa glances at her and nods. She looks around with intent and curious eyes, taking the task of shopping seriously. Anna stares at her, amused, for the first time, to see such a determined look on her face. She notices that a few girls send quick and weird glances at Elsa, and she guesses it must be the hair color and her sculptured, perfect cheekbones. Elsa, on the other hand, seems to be oblivious to it all. Anna shakes her head, a small smile tugging her lips upwards.

As another song begins — Anna thinks it’s Dua Lipa, but she always confuses her with Katy Perry — Elsa holds between her arms three sweaters, two pairs of trousers, a cardigan and four long-sleeve shirts. She turns around towards Anna and gives her a quizzical look.

“Now you try them on, and if they fit you, we will buy them,”

“Okay,” Elsa nods. “Can you hold them for me?”

Anna furrows her brows but nods nevertheless. As she grabs all the clothes Elsa hands her, Elsa begins to unzip the jacket Anna lent her, but before she could undress further, Anna’s hand shots out and grabs Elsa’s wrist. “What are you doing?” she says through gritted teeth. “There are changing rooms for this.”

“Oh,” Elsa replies dumbly, blushing in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she apologizes with a look that resembles a regretful puppy.

Anna shrugs, tentatively smiling. “It’s okay. You’ve got a lot to learn, Barbie. Come on, I’ll come with you,”

They find the changing rooms and once Elsa is behind the drawn curtain, Anna stands nearby so that if Elsa needs her she will be close enough to help.

“Anna?”

Anna peaks inside, slightly pulling the curtain to the side. Her cheeks flush slightly.

“How do I look?” Elsa stutters.

“You look—,” Anna swallows, looking her up and down. “—great. That sweater is, erm, nice. It suits you,”

Elsa nods and looks at her reflection in the mirror. “What about the...what did you call them?”

“Trousers,” Anna says with a chuckle. “Have you ever worn them?”

“Once or twice,” Elsa mumbles. “But I thought they were called pants,”

Anna sighs. “In the US, yeah. Here we call them trousers,”

“Oh, alright,” Elsa looks at her through the mirror and smiles slightly. Anna still has to get used to her smile. It’s not that she thinks it’s _ugly_ or not nice. If anything, it’s one of the best smiles she has ever seen. It might be a little cheesy, and she chastises herself for thinking that way, but just because she has a girlfriend didn’t mean she didn’t have a pair of eyes anymore. Elsa is a gorgeous woman. With the body of a model and the face of an angel. But, yeah. Anna tries to ignore just how good those trousers fit her legs and hug her hips perfectly.

She clears her throat and asks, “Um, are you finished?”

“Yes,” Elsa smiles again. “I will change back to your clothes now,”

Anna nods absentmindedly and then draws the curtain once more. She checks her iPhone for any messages but there are none.

Two minutes later, they find themselves on the queue for the check-out and a pair of blue gloves catches Anna’s attention. “Hey, I bet these would look nice on you,” Anna smiles, grabbing a pair.

Before Elsa could protest, the cashier greets them with his thick Irish accent and Elsa closes her mouth, depositing her clothes on the desk. Anna drops the gloves and she thinks nothing of the strange way Elsa stares at the article.

“That’ll be 115.99£,” the freckled man says happily.

Anna pays and grabs the bag with the clothes. They say their goodbyes to the cashier, who waves his hand enthusiastically at them as they exit the store.

Once they’re walking down the large hallway of the supermarket, Anna glances at Elsa. “That guy seemed to be on drugs,” she chuckles.

“Why?”

“Didn’t you see how weirdly enthusiastic he acted when he waved at us?”

“Erm…”

“Never mind,” Anna snorts. She sees the blush coat Elsa’s cheeks and giggles. “Are you always this embarrassed and clueless?” she asks teasingly.

“I, um, I don’t exactly remember…”

“Oh, right,” Anna breathes. “And—um, you should probably wear these, you look weird without gloves since, you know—it’s freaking _cold_.”

“But I’m not cold,” Elsa protests weakly.

“Yes, I know, but normal people without _ice powers_ are cold in winter.”

They exit the supermarket and walk leisurely towards the parking lot. Elsa tentatively puts on the blue gloves and flexes her fingers, staring at her now clad hands with that same weird stare she had back at the check-out.

“You okay, Barbie?”

“Yes, it’s just…” she trails off. “These gloves...they kind of feel familiar.”

“Really?”

Elsa nods absentmindedly.

“Well...it’s great, isn’t it? You remembering bits and pieces of your life, I mean.”

Elsa shrugs, and once they’re seated inside the Mercedes, Anna turns towards Elsa, blue eyes still glued to her hands.

“Anyway, I was thinking…” Anna begins. “I know I haven’t exactly told you what the Internet is, but—basically, it’s this platform where you ask for something and the Internet finds it within seconds.”

Elsa finally graces her with her attention and looks mildly bewildered at the explanation. “Something like that exists?”

“Yeah,” Anna smiles. “I guess that someone like you finds the Internet fascinating, and maybe some people don’t appreciate it enough, considering what it can do to help us,” she pauses. “Anyway,” she blinks rapidly. “You were a Queen, right? And maybe you don’t remember now, but you probably had a big kingdom, considering your castle. And, surely, if we look for you on the Internet—,”

“But I’m right here,”

“—I know,” Anna sighs, smiling at the innocence of this woman. “But we can look for information. _Your life_ , dummy,”

A look of realization crosses Elsa’s face. “Oh,” she smiles. “That’s very...clever, I must say.”

Anna smirks. “Maybe we can find out more about you. What do you think?”

Elsa ponders over it quietly. “You mean now?”

Anna shrugs. “Sure, why not?”

Elsa stares at her for a moment before pressing her lips together. “Alright,”

“Yay!” she exclaims. She must be sincere with herself; she is kind of curious to find out about Elsa’s past. She looks far too mysterious and intriguing, and Anna doesn’t have that much patience. “Okay, so,” she opens a new tab and writes on the search bar: _Queen Elsa of Arendelle Wikipedia._ “Oh, there it is,”

“Can I see?” Elsa asks, sounding rather impatient.

“Wait,” Anna opens the Wikipedia page and scrolls down slowly. “Oh,” she blushes. “Your birthday was yesterday. I kind of feel bad now,”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Anna turns her iPhone around to show Elsa. She almost laughs at the way Elsa squints her eyes, the light of the screen momentarily blinding her. “Apparently, you were born in 1826, so when you died in 1853 you were...27 years old? Wow, girl, you’re young,”

Elsa smiles awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Oh,” Anna frowns. “Here it says that you lost your parents at a very young age—oh, erm, at 18. And you became Queen of Arendelle as soon as you came of age, when you were 21, so in...1847,” she keeps scrolling, a frown of concentration contorting her face. “It mostly says that you were a great monarch, did great things for the economy of Arendelle. You seemed to have a deep passion for mathematics and geometry, no siblings...and, um...you weren’t—married?” Anna looks up at Elsa, but the latter only shrugs. “You really don’t remember any of this?”

“I know it’s crazy, but I truly don’t. I feel like what you’re telling me is the truth, but I’m not fully certain.”

Anna pouts. “That’s a shame,” she frowns. “I kind of wanted to get to know you better, and I don’t know if all of this is trustworthy.”

She exits the Wikipedia page and scrolls absentmindedly. “Oh — related searches. Let’s see,” Anna pauses. “Um...the Duke of Weselton, Queen Iduna of Arendelle...and, um, Queen Anna of the Southern Isles?” Anna giggles. “How funny — we have the same name. Then we have...King Agnarr of Arendelle, Northuldra…”

Anna stays silent for a moment.

“Well, maybe tomorrow I can go to the library before it closes for the holidays and see if they have something about your kingdom. What do you say?”

“It sounds lovely,” Elsa replies, then smiles shyly. “Anna, I...want to thank you. For all that you’re doing for me. You haven’t asked for any of this and yet…” Elsa averts her eyes and timidly looks out the window. It has started to snow softly. “This is very kind of you. Thank you,”

Anna’s teal eyes slightly widen at her words. “Oh,” she chuckles nervously, scratching the back of her head. “It’s nothing, really. I was kind of annoyed at first, but...I think we’ll be great friends,” Anna winks.

Elsa giggles tenderly. “I hope so,” her eyes sparkle with mirth and Anna has to look away. Elsa truly has the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she has ever seen.

“Well,” she sighs, clapping her hands together. “Buckle up, Barbie, we’re going home.”

* * *

Dinner goes smoothly. On the way home, Anna stopped by a local store so as to buy essentials for the days that would follow, and then bought fish and chips from her favorite diner. Elsa looked insecure about the food that was presented to her on her plate, but Anna managed to convince her under five minutes, and quickly, Elsa was asking for more.

Anna was actually having fun, giggling so much that her stomach hurt. Elsa had a weird sense of humor, that she has stated many and many times, but seeing the way she _eats_ , is more funny than the words that fly out of her mouth. From the way she sits, with her back straight and head slightly tilted downwards, to the way she holds her cutlery, fork in right hand and knife in the left one.

And then, the doorbell chimes through the house.

“Fuck, my girlfriend is here,”

Elsa looks up at her, alarmed, her hands stained with chocolate cake crumbs.

“She can’t know about you,” Anna states. “Yet,” she sighs. “I thought I told her I would go to her house, why is she _here_?”

Anna checks her appearance on the nearest mirror, the one on the hallway that leads to the front door, and panics. “What do I do?” she tangles her hands in her hair, frantically pulling it.

“Do you want me to hide?”

Another knock sounds at the door. And then, a muffled voice, “Anna, is that you? Are you already busy?”

Anna stares wide eyed at Elsa. “Fuck,” she whispers. “She heard you. Oh, _shit_.”

“Anna—,”

“I’ll just invent something, don’t—don’t worry.”

Elsa stands a few feet away from the entrance as Anna quickly goes to the front door and opens it for her girlfriend.

“Oh, hey,” Maren smiles widely. She leans in and pecks her lips. Anna stands still, too busy listening to her wild heart beating inside her rib cage. Maren wraps her arms around her waist and hugs her tightly. It is then that she notices the bouquet of flowers held between her fingers. In the embrace, Anna momentarily relaxes and breathes in her girlfriend’s scent. She has missed her dearly, she has to admit it.

Until—

“Oh, you have _company_ ,” her English accent is thick as she disentangles their limbs. Anna turns around and blushes deeply upon the look of utter fascination on Elsa’s face. It’s as if she’s never seen two women together...oh well, probably she has _not_.

Elsa steps a little bit closer and ducks her head, and the action makes her look like a maid bowing to their queen. Which — is completely weird, if Anna has to be honest, since Elsa is the only one with that status in this house.

“Um, Maren, this is...Elsa.”

Maren briefly looks her up and down, probably caught off guard. Then, she is her usually sunny self, smiling brightly at Elsa and extending a hand. “Oh. Hi, um, I’m Maren. Honey Maren,”

Elsa shakes the offered hand and Anna notices her girlfriend’s slight shiver.

“Nice to meet you,” Elsa forces a polite smile on her face, before standing to her full height, back straight, poised stance. Anna briefly stares at her. Well, she might not remember her life, but she sure does know how to act like a queen.

Then, Anna turns to her girlfriend and giggles playfully. “Babe, why did you introduce yourself a la James Bond?”

As Maren shakes her head, rolls her eyes and laughs quietly, Elsa, on the other hand, is her usual clueless self. She stares at them quizzically, before innocently asking, “...who’s James Bond?”

Anna’s blood runs cold while Maren laughs more loudly at the seemingly stupid question. She wraps an arm around Anna’s waist and asks, “Girl, what, do you live in the 1800s or something?”

Anna tries not to choke on her own spit and bites her inner cheek so hard that she fears she might taste blood. She glances at Elsa, who, fortunately, doesn’t even blink. Anna might have fainted, as the little staring contest between Elsa and Maren went on for another ten seconds.

Anna clears her throat, stepping between them. Her voice is high pitched as she asks, “Erm, babe, do you want, um, something to drink?”

Maren looks at her neutrally and shrugs. “Sure. I would fancy some water,”

Anna nods. “Wait for me in the living room, will you?”

Maren nods and kisses her briefly on the cheek. She steals a glance at Elsa, still probably trying to understand the situation, and then she’s gone. Anna grabs Elsa’s elbow and drags her to the kitchen. She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Okay, so here’s the plan, Barbie,”

Elsa turns to her with eyes akin to a deer. “Okay.”

“You will go to the bedroom and stay there until I come back, alright? Maren is gonna stay here for a few hours and then go home. Nothing too serious.”

Elsa nods.

They part ways on the way to the living room, Elsa going up the stairs and Anna turning left. Maren smiles at her as soon as she sits down beside her on the couch. Anna hands her the glass of water silently and waits for her to place it back on the coffee table.

Before she can ask about where Elsa is, Anna cups her face and kisses her deeply. She swallows Maren’s surprised gasp, and tangles her hands in her pitch black hair. Maren quickly submits to her attack, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

Once they part and break the kiss, Anna is breathing heavily. “Want to watch a movie?” she asks, her cheeks reddened and her breath shallow. _Please, don’t ask me about Elsa._

“Okay,” Maren replies with a pleased smile. She seems to have forgotten about the brief encounter with Elsa, now fully focused on Anna. And that was exactly what Anna had aimed for with that less than innocent kiss.

She gets up, glancing at the stairs, and hopes that Elsa is entertaining herself.

Leaving her alone for a couple hours could do no harm after all, right?

* * *

As much as it is wrong to privy into somebody else’s personal possessions, Elsa can’t help herself. And despite her curiosity, despite the nosiness that drove her half an hour ago, now she’s beginning to regret _it_.

“What is… _this_?”

What she’s holding in her hands is nothing short of an object that imitates the male... _genitals._ Elsa isn’t entirely sure — she doesn’t _exactly_ remember if she’s ever seen one — but holding this... _thing_ , makes her cringe and blush profusely, even though she’s alone. She never thought Anna would be…

“Ugh,” Elsa shakes her head in a grimace and puts away the object she found in a box underneath the bed. She shoves it back to its place, and hopes that Anna won’t notice that it is placed slightly more to the left than it should be. She tries to forget about it — the straps, the obscene pink color, _everything_ — and decides that the photos hanging on the wall beside the closet are far more interesting and less embarrassing.

There aren’t many pictures, Elsa notices. The first one her eyes lay upon depicts Anna with two other adults; probably her parents. She looks younger, her cheeks rounder and her features more childish. Her mother is a beautiful woman, probably not older than forty four, and the man standing next to her — her husband — has his arms around her waist and his daughter’s shoulders. While some may think that a mustache makes a man look older, Elsa thinks that it suits Anna’s father.

They look like the perfect family, but Elsa has a feeling, looking at this single picture, that something is missing. It is indescribable, and it leaves her a lingering wave of nostalgia for a childhood she doesn’t even remember.

In the next picture, Anna is alone save for the canvas and the colors beside the easel. The painting is blurry, but what draws Elsa’s attention is the concentration swimming across the woman’s face. Her fierce copper hair is tied in two pigtails, leaving her face bare of any stray locks. There’s blue paint on Anna’s cheek and nose, and the ghost of a smile haunts Elsa’s lips as she unconsciously raises a hand, a timid fingertip tracing the contour of Anna’s face.

She goes on to the third picture, where three other youngsters stand by Anna’s side. They’re all in the midst of laughing, the brunette girl beside Anna a little bit blurry because of it. The two boys, taller than the two girls, have their lips puckered, their eyes crossed and body bending forward. Elsa doesn’t understand what they’re trying to mimic, but the position of their arms makes them look ridiculously humorous. And so, Elsa giggles quietly, covering her smile with a prim hand. She guesses these are Anna’s friends, and deep within her heart she feels a longing, one that stays there for a while.

Once she’s seen all of the pictures — even the ones that were on Anna’s bedside — she decides to change out of her clothes and put on the jammies that Anna gave her the night before. She feels particularly drained; she didn’t know that shopping would tire her out so much.

Once she lies down, the mattress draws her in the comforting arms of sleep, and she realizes she has fallen asleep only when she hears a door slowly closing. Elsa rouses gradually and when she puts her weight on her elbows, with her bleary eyes she spots Anna.

“Oh, hey,” Anna shyly smiles. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“You didn’t,” Elsa shrugs, not wanting Anna to feel bad for a such a minor inconvenience.

Anna plops down beside her and looks at her with a playful, tight lipped smile. “You’re a terrible liar, just so you know,”

Elsa lets out a short laugh, shaking her head and burrowing her head back into the pillows. When Anna lies down beside her, even with her eyes closed she can still feel her gaze on her. It makes her cheeks flush and, unable to ignore it any longer, she opens her lids and meets Anna’s soft and tired stare.

Now that they’re close to each other and underneath the same blanket, Elsa notices that Anna smells different. She doesn’t put too much thought into it — at least, it isn’t quite an unpleasant smell. It’s not like she _stinks_ or anything.

“You okay, Barbie?”

Elsa nods and despite her exhaustion, she keeps intact their eye contact and smiles. “Thank you for today. I had...fun,”

Anna shrugs and lies on her back, eyes trained to the ceiling. Elsa, still on her side, puts her folded hands beneath her cheek and looks at Anna through the thick veil of darkness.

“I didn’t tell Maren about...you know, your true identity,” Anna states quietly after a while. Elsa momentarily looks out the window, at the snowflakes that fall leisurely, and then back at Anna. “Fortunately, she didn’t ask any questions, but...—sooner or later I will have to tell her, Barbie. She is—,”

“—your partner?”

Anna tilts her head sideways and looks at her with a pleased smile. “Something like that. She’s my girlfriend, and I like her, but we’re not...—we’ve been together for a few months, so we’re just dating casually. But I feel like—,” Anna glances at her again and is surprised to see Elsa’s tender blue eyes stare at her intently. “—I’m sorry, I’m rambling. I do that a lot apparently.”

“It’s okay,” Elsa smiles. “I don’t mind.”

Anna’s upper lip twitches upward. “You’re a good listener,”

Elsa giggles. “Thank you,” she pauses. “You were saying?”

Anna blushes, but since the only light inside the dark bedroom comes from the nearby lamppost, she hopes that Elsa doesn’t notice. “I was saying that...I feel like we could have a serious relationship, Maren and I. She’s—a great girl, and ambitious, and kind and...I could see myself with someone like her.”

Elsa’s smile gets bigger. “I’m happy you found each other. From how you describe her, she sounds...lovely.”

Anna nods and turns on her side, facing Elsa. “She is,” she pauses, gazing at Elsa even though she can only see the light color of her loose platinum blonde hair. She sighs quietly. “I wish I could ask you some questions about your life,” she chuckles nervously.

“Me too,” Elsa replies softly. “I hope that I will remember my past soon. I...want to share it with you,”

Anna smiles and plays with the edge of her pillow. “It must be frustrating for you.”

“It kind of is,” Elsa laughs. “But when the right time comes, I will remember.”

Anna nods absentmindedly and stays silent for a while. She almost fears Elsa’s fallen asleep, since her breathing has evened out, but still, she asks in a whisper, “Will you show me more of your powers tomorrow? Before my parents come back, I mean,”

Elsa takes a few seconds to respond, but then, “I would love to,” Elsa replies just as quietly.

“Cool,” Anna replies with a light, nervous chuckle. She hears Elsa giggle like a child, and only then does she realize the word she has just used. “Oh, you know what I mean,” she laughs, blindly shoving Elsa’s shoulder.

“Goodnight, Anna,” Elsa tells her, and she can hear the smile in her voice.

“Goodnight,” Anna turns on her other side, her back facing Elsa. She pauses, smiling to herself, before adding, “ _Stinker_ ,”

Elsa’s sweet giggle is the last sound she hears, before sleep claims her for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this "Anna of the Southern Isles". Any theories on who she might be? ;)


	4. not ready to mingle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is so late and I'm really sorry, but I've been really busy with real life and school. But now exams are over and I will have more time to write, so yay!
> 
> I hope this isn't getting too boring, but believe me, the story hasn't really started yet. The real plot will come in later chapters, and I know you're all dying to know about Elsa's past ;) Soon, my friends, but in the mean time, you can make some assumptions if you want, I like reading them :P
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this fluffy and humorous, light chapter. Hope you have a great weekend <3

Something is tickling her nose. It’s not unpleasant, but whatever it is, it can _wait._ It’s been a while since she slept through an entire night, so Anna does whatever she can do to cling to her dreamless slumber. She swats a hand towards — _whatever_ it is that is disturbing her. She mumbles incoherently, swaying her butt until she’s lying on her side and burying her face in the pillows. In the distance, Anna hears a giggle, a faint but amused one.

She ignores it, clumsily covering her face with both her hands.

The tickling on her nose suddenly stops, and Anna smiles, _finally_ able to go back to sleep.

But — the respite is short lived.

It begins again, but this time, it is _wet_. She furrows her brows, feeling something stick to the tip of her nose and then _melt_ —

“Elsa, what are you doin’,” she mumbles, begrudgingly opening her lids to find out what her new friend is up to.

Elsa sits behind her, left hand hovering above her head. The other one rests beside Anna’s face, on her pillow. Anna blinks various times, the fogginess of her eyes vanishing only after she rubs her eyes furiously.

“Waking you up,” Elsa replies after a moment, a tender grin upturning her thin lips upwards.

Anna falters when she notices that her forehead and nose are wet. “Why is my face _wet_?” she asks, eyes narrowing accusingly at Elsa.

Elsa snorts, a sound she has never heard her make, and quickly goes to cover her mouth with a dainty hand. “I tried to wake you up with my magic.”

As if the point wasn’t clear enough, Elsa turns her left palm towards the ceiling and swirls her fingers, a faint, azure glow spreading upwards as tiny ice crystals materialize out of nowhere.

Anna’s eyes _bulge_.

 _Now_ she’s awake. Forget her peaceful slumber. This was—

“ _Shit_ , this is fucking incredible,” Anna reaches out, amazed at what Elsa could do with her fingers. She reaches out with both of her hands and grabs Elsa’s, feeling her cool skin beneath her warm one. “How does it feel?”

“It’s...quite liberating,” Elsa confesses, genuinely pleased at Anna’s reaction. “It gets intense when I don’t...expel ice for a while.”

“You must be about to explode then,” Anna giggles, glancing up at her briefly before looking back at her hand. She traces patterns along her palm, still bewildered that ice and snow could come out from such soft skin.

“I was quite delighted when you asked me to show you my magic, to be completely honest with you,”

Anna stares at her hand for another solid minute before finally looking back up at her, beaming, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go have breakfast so you can show me what you got later!”

Thirty minutes later, they’re back inside Anna’s bedroom, afraid that outside someone could see them. They’re dressed in comfortable sweaters and holding each a hot, steaming mug of cocoa. They sit cross legged in front of one another, Anna’s body practically bouncing with terribly unrestrained excitement.

“Come on, come _on_! Do the magic!”

She’s smiling so hard Elsa fears it might hurt her cheeks to have such a broad grin on her lips. Still, she satisfies her request and creates a small hill of snow, before swirling her fingers again. A castle appears on top and in the midst of her concentration, Elsa hears Anna gasp.

“How the _fuck_ —,” she pauses, before tentatively touching the tower of the building. As if she were burnt, she retracts her hand quickly. “This is _real_ snow,” she states the obvious, a bewildered look spreading across her face as she slowly looks up at Elsa.

“It is,” Elsa confirms with a shy smile. Seeing Anna appreciate her magic makes her feel powerful. If Anna were to be sad, she knew she had the power to turn her frown upside down by just a wave of the hand and some magical, glowing white snow.

“I still can’t believe you’re able to control ice and snow,” Anna mumbles, a lost gaze inside her teal eyes. “It’s like—I can’t even wrap my head around it,” she laughs. “Can you—I don’t know, cause a storm or something like that?”

“Let’s say that—I’ve noticed that my emotions control my powers best. I would cause a storm _only_ when I’m terribly upset or anxious,” Elsa replies thoughtfully.

Anna nods and hums pensively. “It almost seems like your mind has no memories of your life, but your body does.”

Elsa stares at her for a moment, absorbing the meaning of her words. “It feels like it,” she agrees after a while.

“Like—,” Anna points at the miniature castle of snow. “—this looks a lot like the Arendelle castle.”

Now that Anna mentions it, Elsa takes a closer look at her creation. “Oh,” she breathes softly. “You’re right,”

“And—did you think about what to create when you...conjured your magic?”

Elsa shakes her head. “No, it just came to me naturally.”

“Hm,” Anna puts a hand beneath her chin and scratches her cheek. “What if we could see your memories through your powers? You could create things and see if they’re pieces of your past life.”

“That could be a great idea,” Elsa replies smiling. However, her smile falters soon after. “But...how am I able to recognize the things I’ve created if I don’t remember?”

Anna deflates slightly. “Oh,”

“And besides, I remember the castle because I’ve seen it when we were there last time, remember?”

Anna sighs in defeat. “Oh fuck, you’re right. I haven’t thought about that,” she pauses. “Damn it, I _really_ want to know more about you. I feel like our friendship is one sided,” she slouches her shoulders.

“Don’t worry,” Elsa smiles softly, placing a cold hand on top of Anna’s. Anna looks up at her with slight widened eyes, not expecting such a tender touch from her. “We have all the time in the world,”

Anna begins to smile. “You’re right,” she looks down at their joined hands. “Now, come on! Let’s build a snowman,”

As if they were little kids playing outside with the first snow of the season, Elsa and Anna stay locked inside Anna’s bedroom, too busy playing with Elsa’s wonderful magic. They only stop when it’s time to have lunch, but aside from that, they spend most of the day in the company of Elsa’s powers.

Around six p.m., Anna has a bathroom break while Elsa stays seated on the wooden floor, gathering a fist of snow before letting it fall gently on top of her crossed knees. Anna is gone for a few minutes, but—

“ _Fuck!”_

Anna comes back inside the bedroom and shuts the door behind her with a loud thud. There’s a panicked look across her face and Elsa immediately stands on her two feet. The snow surrounding them soon disappears, and when Elsa calls her name, Anna looks up at her with fright and exhilaration. They look at each other for five intense seconds, in which Elsa hears the front door open and the sound of footsteps on the floor below them.

“Get in the closet!” Anna exclaims suddenly, jumping towards her and grabbing both her arms. She turns her around and pushes her towards the said closet.

“What?—,”

“Get in the closet, _hide_!”

Elsa tries to turn around and face her friend, but Anna refuses to let her do so, pushing both hands against her back. Elsa doesn’t understand — what was happening? And why was it happening so _fast_?

“Anna—,”

“Hide in the closet, come on, we don’t have much time!”

“What—,”

Elsa hears a groan, the doors of the closet opening.

“I’ve lived in there for a while and I _promise_ it’s not that bad once you get used to it,” Anna says, and this confuses Elsa even more. When Anna sees her lost look, she groans. “Hide in the closet, come on!”

“Lived...in the closet? How—,”

“Elsa!” she exclaims through gritted teeth. “Please, just—get in the closet!”

“Okay okay,” Elsa replies hurriedly, doing what Anna told her to do. Anna closes the doors as soon as she’s inside. She places her ear near them, in order to hear what is happening on the outside.

“My parents are back,” Anna whispers, and her voice is laced with worry and anxiousness. “I thought they were gonna come back after dinner, but— _fuck_ , what am I gonna do?! I can’t let them find you,”

Elsa doesn’t know what to do, what to say to calm Anna down. The only thing she can do is stay silent so that Anna’s parents won’t hear or find her.

A voice from outside the bedroom calls Anna’s name.

“Anna, dear? Are you in there?”

“Yes! Yes, I’m—,” Elsa hears Anna approach the door, probably ensuring that her mother doesn’t come any closer. Her heartbeat is frantic inside her rib cage. “—you’re back!” she exclaims with half feigned excitement. “How was the flight?”

“It was great, darling. Open the door, so that I—,”

“No!” Anna exclaims a little too quickly. “Erm, I mean—my room’s a mess, I don’t want you to see that, mum. I—can you wait for me downstairs? I will come down in a minute and also greet Dad,”

There’s a pause on the other side of the door. “Oh, okay,” Anna’s mother’s voice isn’t as cheery as it was before, but it lacks the concern that laced it a few moments ago. “Don’t take a while, darling. See you downstairs,”

Anna takes a deep breath of relief when she hears her mother’s footsteps retreat downstairs. “Thank goodness,” she whispers, placing her forehead against the door for a moment before going towards the closet. She opens the doors and faces a concerned Elsa.

“Anna, I’m s—,”

“Don’t try to apologize,” Anna warns her, a playful glint glowing inside her teal eyes. “It’s not an ideal situation,” she says quietly, staring at a spot on the floor. There’s a ‘but’ coming, Elsa can feel it, and when it does come out of Anna’s mouth, it makes Elsa smile shyly. “But I don’t regret _any_ of this. You’re cool and I think of you as a friend. And as a good friend, I’m going to find a solution,”

Elsa nods and ducks her head, a futile attempt at hiding her slightly flushed cheeks. Anna, in the meantime, begins pacing back and forth, index and middle finger pinching her chin in deep thought.

“What to do, what to do…”

Elsa goes to gingerly sit down on the edge of the bed. She stares at Anna, who doesn’t even notice. Seconds pass, then minutes, and when Anna sighs, Elsa begins to frown. “I don’t know...making up a fake identity for you would be the best solution, but I don’t think they will believe it now…”

“Why not?” Elsa dares to ask.

Anna sits down beside her, their knees brushing briefly. “My university doesn’t do exchange students right before the holidays...and saying that you’re one of them would be too suspicious,” she explains with a somber and disappointed look in her teal eyes. “I just...I think I’m gonna need to hide you in my room for now,” she sighs and turns towards her. “I’m sorry, Elsa.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Elsa smiles in sympathy. “We’re going to find a solution, I know we will. Maybe not now, but there is _always_ a solution to every problem.”

Anna frowns a little. “I might have to disagree with you on that,” she mumbles. “Anyway,” she breathes deeply. “I need to go downstairs and greet my parents otherwise they’re gonna barge in the room,” she rolls her eyes at that and Elsa giggles softly. “I need you to stay here, and if you hear footsteps that aren’t mine—,”

“How am I going to recognize your footsteps?”

“I’ll—whistle. Yes, I’ll whistle my way here so you’ll know that it’s me,”

“Oh, okay,” Elsa doesn’t sound too convinced, but Anna goes on.

“I was saying,” she pauses. “If you hear footsteps that aren’t mine, hide in the closet. My parents are not of the nosy type — well... _sometimes_ , but — they’re certainly not gonna look in my closet. That is, as long as you are quiet,”

Elsa nods and clasps her hands on her lap. “Okay,” she replies with a hopeful smile.

Anna stares at her for a moment before nodding herself. “Okay,” she repeats. “You’re gonna be okay, right?”

“Yes,” Elsa smiles, warmth spreading across her chest upon hearing the concern in Anna’s voice. She’s about to thank her, for risking getting in trouble with her parents for her, who was a stranger until two days ago, but Anna then stands up, goes to open the door, but pauses.

She turns around, smiling hesitantly at Elsa before waving gently. “I’m gonna bring you some food later. See ya, Barbie,”

Elsa laughs and while with one she waves back to Anna, with the other she covers her lips to hide her smile.

Downstairs, Anna takes a deep breath before emerging in the living room.

“Oh, hey darling,” her mother smiles.

“Look, my favourite daughter!” her father jokes.

Anna sighs and rolls her eyes. She grins nevertheless; despite her father’s annoying quips, she still missed them dearly these days. “Dad,” she warns with a playful glint in her eyes. “I’m your _only_ daughter,”

“Really?” he continues, his voice as dry as ever. “I didn’t _know_ that. Thank you, Anna, for letting me know,” he finishes sarcastically. Her mother gently slaps him in the forearm, and they all burst laughing. Anna walks towards them, diminishing the distance between them and squishing her parents into a bear, group hug.

“I missed you guys,” she mumbles in her mother’s shoulder. James ruffles her hair like all fathers do with their daughters, just to annoy her further.

“ _Dad_ ,” she whines again, but the smile on her face only gets bigger.

“We missed you, too, darling,” her mother says, sending a glare to her husband, although there’s no malice in her amiable eyes. Anna snuggles a little bit more, her father’s cologne mixing with her mother’s lavender. She closes her eyes and sighs happily. Despite the anxiousness of her parents finding out about Elsa, she was still very much delighted to finally have them back home with her.

“So, we bought some food on the way home. You hungry?”

Now that Anna truly thinks about it, she _is_ a little bit hungry, despite the early hours of the evening. She ate little at lunch with Elsa, because her excitement for her friend’s ice powers was too much and occupied too much space inside her body.

“What did you buy?”

“Fish and chips, sweetheart,” says her mother. When Anna looks up at her, Iduna smiles warmly.

“Yay!” she exclaims happily, dancing clumsily to show off her appreciation.

Within minutes, the table is set and the family gathers around it. Anna begins to eat, and once her mouth is full of chips, her brain is devoid of any worries.

“What are we gonna do tomorrow?” she asks once she’s swallowed.

“Nothing big, kid,” James replies, sipping from his glass of water. “Just lunch. And maybe a movie after dinner.”

“Did you have something in mind?”

“Hm,” she shrugs. Her mind goes back to Elsa; she doesn’t want to leave her alone all day, on _Christmas_. She ought to do something with her, otherwise the woman is going to be bored out of her mind if she lingers too much inside her bedroom. She thinks about how her parents require her presence at lunch and at dinner, leaving the afternoon free. Maybe...she can go out with Elsa during that lapse of time, where her parents will probably stay inside the house. “Can I…” she hesitates. Are her parents waiting for her to propose something to do with them? Anna lowers her eyes to her plate, toying with the remaining food. “Can I go to the ice rink with my friends? Tomorrow afternoon, I mean,”

Iduna swallows and then smiles. “Of course, darling. Who are you going with?”

Anna reddens. “Oh, um…” she has to come up with some names. “Probably with the boys and Raps,” she shrugs. She’s always been terrible at lying, and she hopes that her mother doesn’t see right through her.

“That’s great,” Iduna nods and sips her wine.

“Aren’t you taking your girlfriend with you?” James asks, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

“I—I don’t know,” she stammers. “I haven’t actually asked her,” she pauses. “We saw each other last night so...tomorrow I will see my friends. I haven’t seen them since I left for Norway, guys.”

“Hm,” her father hums, a teasing smile still on his face. Anna blushes; her parents were supportive of her and Maren, but the way James acted whenever she was brought up in a conversation, it is _almost_ unnerving. Almost. He always gets so smug and playful — even though, now that Anna thinks about it, her father is playful most of the times — trying to get under her skin.

“Don’t mind him,” Iduna waves a hand, smiling at her husband. “He’s in a good mood, that’s why he’s like this.”

“Hm,” Anna mumbles. Then, she smirks, glances at her father and asks, suggestively, “ _Why_ , exactly, are you in a _good_ mood?”

His smile falters slightly a blush covers his shaved cheeks. “’Cause I got to see you, duh,” he replies, awkward laughter coming out of his mouth.

“Ah,” Anna smiles sweetly. Then, she turns towards her mother and says, “I _see,_ ”

Iduna’s eyes widen briefly before she averts them to the plate. “Finish your dinner sweetie, come on,”

Anna tries to hide her smug grin from her parents but for the remainder of the evening, that smirk is plastered all over her face, proudly. James proposes to watch a movie, and while his wife agrees, Anna offers to take care of the dishes. She washes them quickly, and after checking that her parents are still settled on the couch and not about to enter the kitchen, she prepares a sandwich for Elsa. She doesn’t know what she likes exactly, but she hopes that they have about the same taste in food. Before leaving the room, with the sandwich safely hidden behind her back, she grabs an apple; maybe she likes fruits, who knows.

“I’m back,” Anna whispers inside the bedroom. She whistled on the way here, so she’s not surprised to see Elsa sit primly on the bed, who greets her with a shy smile and a little wave of the hand.

“How was dinner with your parents?” she asks politely.

“Fine, I guess,” Anna shrugs. She locks the door of her bedroom and goes to sit beside her friend. “Here, take this. I hope you like sandwiches,” she smiles. “And apples,”

“They’re okay,” Elsa smiles again. “Thank you,”

For a moment, Anna watches her eat. She chews with her mouth closed, and before Anna could feel like a total creep, she averts her eyes and clears her throat. “So,” she begins, patting her hands against her sweatpants clad thighs. “Do you fancy ice rinks?”

Elsa looks quizzically at her. “Why?”

“I…” Anna pauses. “I wanted to take you there tomorrow afternoon. To…you know skate together,” when Elsa goes on to stare at her, Anna blushes. “I mean, I could teach you if you want, or...we could stay here if you don’t want to go. That’s totally fine! It’s cool. I was just—,”

“Yes,”

Anna looks up at her. “Yes...what?”

“I want to go with you to the ice rink tomorrow,” Elsa smiles.

Anna gapes for a moment. “Splendid!” she exclaims enthusiastically. “That’s...great,” she smiles hesitantly. “So...the sandwich? How is it?”

“It’s fantastic,” Elsa’s smile gets bigger as she swallows. “Did you make it?”

“Yeah,” Anna smiles proudly. “I make the _best_ sandwiches, just so you know.”

Elsa giggles and finishes eating her dinner. She refuses the apple, says that she’s full and that she’s eaten enough for today. Then, Anna gets up and halts before the bedroom door.

“Listen…” she begins. “I have to take a shower now. You should, too...—not that you stink, of _course_ —on the contrary, you have a nice smell—ah!” Anna laughs nervously and scratches the back of her neck. “—But...do you know how showers work?”

“I think...that I know how a _bath_ works.”

“Yeah,” Anna nods. “Well, I could teach you if you want. It’s not really difficult,” she pauses. “Or maybe you can take a bath. That’s fine by me, no problem,”

“I’ll have a bath,” Elsa smiles. “But you should go first,”

“Okay,” Anna nods with a grateful grin. She gathers some clothes for the night and then disappears in the bathroom. It takes them no longer than two hours to get settled into bed; Elsa actually learns fast — not that _showering_ is a difficult task, but, well — and once they’re under the covers, Anna begins to feel excitement bubble underneath the surface of her brain. Tomorrow is Christmas. A day she will spend with her parents, a day she will go ice skating, something she hasn’t done in _ages_. Maybe she could actually invite her friends, let them know Elsa. Sooner or later, they’ll have to meet. She doesn’t know yet what she’ll tell them. If it’s worth it telling them the truth or sell them a fake identity.

Anna doesn’t want to worry about that now; not when she feels so content and at ease.

“What are you smiling about?” Elsa asks after a while.

Anna turns on her side and faces her friend. “Nothing,” she shrugs nonchalantly. “Just...thinking about tomorrow,” she pauses for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “Do you mind if I invite my friends?”

“The ones in your photographs?”

Anna’s teal eyes momentarily widen. “Yeah,” she stammers.

Elsa actually looks embarrassed for a moment, a slight blush on her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, I—,”

“No, no. It’s okay. Photographs are meant to be looked at,” she giggles. “It just...caught me by surprise. Sorry,”

“It’s okay,” Elsa smiles. “Will you tell them about me?”

“I...don’t know,” she sighs. “I think it’s too soon, you know? I don’t want to tell them when you’re there with us. I don’t want them to...I don’t know, embarrass you or something. I’ll think of something, don’t worry,”

Elsa nods and smiles gratefully. “Okay,” she breathes. “Well, I’m quite tired. Goodnight, Anna,”

Anna grins and turns on her other side. Her eyes are already closed when she says, “Goodnight, Elsa,”

* * *

“Come _on_! Don’t be afraid!”

“I don’t even _fucking_ know how you’re so good at this, you’ve been _dead_ this whole _damn_ time—,”

“It’s not that hard, just grab my hand!”

“Elsa!—I feel— _ridiculous_ —,”

The sound of Elsa’s giggles fills her ears and despite her irritation, she smiles nevertheless. Anna bends her body forward, reaching out to her friend. It’s almost irritating how at ease, how natural this all seems for Elsa. It’s as if she’s become one with the ice— _oh_ , wait. She actually _is._

“How are you so _fucking_ good at this— _Ah!_ ,” Anna tries to grasp Elsa’s bare hands with her gloved ones, but Elsa retracts at the last second and Anna ungracefully falls on her knees. A grunt, then a groan, escapes her lips, as she tries not to grab Elsa’s ankles and drag her down with her once she’s heard her hearty laugh at _her_ expense. “You’re—such—a _stinker_ ,”

She manages to get up, and this time, Elsa doesn’t run away from her. Anna goes to grab her hands, but she slips and falls right into Elsa’s arms instead. She yelps, but Elsa is strangely strong for someone so slim, and Anna grabs onto her forearms, while Elsa’s hands grasp her back.

“Are you okay?” Elsa asks, and while she sounds mildly concerned for her, there are traces of laughter in her voice still.

“Yeah,” Anna mutters. When she looks up—

“Sorry—,”

“I’m—,”

They both take a step back, but before Anna could go too far, Elsa grabs onto her hands instead, so that she doesn’t fall again. “Sorry,” Anna apologizes again.

Before Elsa could reply, Kristoff’s voice reaches them.

“Hey, feisty pants! Bring your ass over here!”

Anna groans and rolls her eyes. With a little of Elsa’s help, they skate over to where Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene stand. Fortunately for her, Anna’s friends believed the fake identity she gave Elsa; a childhood friend who has come to Cambridge. She didn’t tell them that they’re basically living together— _well_ , maybe they will find out in the future, when she _will_ tell them the truth about her new friend—but for now, a lie wouldn’t hurt.

“We all saw you how you fell, that was hilarious,” Eugene snickers.

Rapunzel, as always, comes to her rescue and lightly punches his shoulder. “Don’t be a dick. It’s just been a while,”

“Yeah, thank you, Raps. You’re the only one who loves me here, apparently,” Anna mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Hey, that’s not true,” Kristoff says, sounding almost offended. “We love you, Red. But we love seeing you being your clumsy self more,” he laughs.

Eugene follows, and the two boys go on being just that — _boys_. Rapunzel voices the thought, with a roll of the eyes and through a sigh, “ _Boys,”_

Elsa laughs beside her, shy all of a sudden. Elsa seems to be at ease only when she’s alone with Anna. That she’s an introvert, that she has learned so far.

“So, Elsa,” Kristoff begins, eyeing the blonde up and down. “How long are you staying here in Cambridge?”

Anna glances at Elsa before replying for her. They didn’t exactly agree on a back story, here. She has to improvise. “For a while,” Anna answers vaguely, hoping that her friends will leave her alone. But she sees the look on Kristoff’s eyes — the look that he’s given to so many ladies before. A look that Anna knows too well; _that_ look. Elsa might be blind or oblivious or something, because she doesn’t notice Kristoff’s obvious interest and attraction for her — but Anna does. “And she is _not_ ready to mingle,” she mutters, hoping that her friend will catch on. Kristoff finally looks away from Elsa, who doesn’t seem to have caught the true meaning of her statement.

“Oh,” he whispers so softly that Anna almost thinks she might have imagined it. Eugene and Rapunzel snicker beside them, all of them glancing at Elsa, who’s too busy looking around the square; from the big, extravagant Christmas Tree, to the blinding lights of the decorations. Anna thanks whatever deity exists up there for Elsa’s constant obliviousness; at least she doesn’t notice Kristoff’s clear embarrassment as he clears his throat and announces that he will do another lap. Eugene and Rapunzel join him, leaving Anna and Elsa alone once again.

“Are you okay?” Anna asks once she’s sure that her friends are far enough. “They can be too much sometimes,” she laughs softly.

“They’re nice,” Elsa smiles. She snuggles her nose into her scarf — the one they bought yesterday — and even though her grin is hidden, it is still visible from her cerulean eyes. “They’re fun,” she adds as an afterthought. “Do you think they like me?”

“Yeah, well,” Anna snorts. “ _One_ of them certainly does too much, but — anyway, as long as you don’t do drugs and you’re a good person, they’ll love you,”

“Great,” Elsa breathes in relief. “I was a little afraid,”

This was new. “What? Why?” Anna asks, genuinely curious. They skate slowly, absentmindedly.

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “I’m just... _new_. To all of this,” she points around them. “I don’t know how people of the modern world interact with each other. And let’s say that I’m... _fairly_ shy. Too many people makes me...nervous,” she confesses, crossing her arms and grabbing her own wrist.

“Oh,” Anna breathes. “Do the crowds bother you? Do you want to go back home? I don’t mind, I just want you to—,”

“No, no, it’s okay, really,” Elsa smiles, putting a hand on her shoulder so she doesn’t go any further. “I just—,” she pauses, struggling to find the right words. “—just don’t leave me alone,” she whispers, vulnerability involuntarily leaking into her voice. The statement catches Anna off guard; her eyes slightly widen, and she tries to hide her blush by ducking her head. She hopes Elsa mistakes it for the cold and not for her words.

Kristoff calls their names across the rink, catching their attention. He says he’s hungry, and that they should grab something to eat.

But for the rest of the evening, Elsa’s words never leave Anna’s mind.


End file.
